Why is called the birds and the bees

The earliest use of the term I found in the New York Times archives that could conceivably be in the modern context of sex is from a Civil War correspondence from Washington DC, published a little over a week after the start of the conflict, in It is a warm, sunny day, this 20th day of April.

The air is redolent of bursting buds, and the Capital Park is jubilant with the gushing songs of the birds and the humming of the honey-bees. The Northern air that has "aggressed" upon us for a week past has been driven back by the rebellious South wind, that comes, fresh from the fair faces it has carressed, and the waving tresses through which it has wantoned, to enchant the soul with its balmy breath, and entrance the mind with its dreamy sweetness.

The author certainly doesn't shy from wordplay "aggressed," sick burn , which leads me to believe that euphemistic speaking is a possibility. On the bright side, the convoluted origins of "the birds and the bees" may inspire you to skip the phrase altogether next time you're asked, "Where do babies come from?

BY Nick Greene. It is a way of deflecting the inevitable question that every parent dreads: "Where do babies come from? It is uncertain as to when the phrase was first used or how it gained popularity. It does not necessarily mean that parents are explaining how birds and bees reproduce.

The connection between human sexuality and eggs and pollination is vague, which can cause some confusion among curious children. Though there are some variations, the story typically involves bees pollinating flowers, symbolizing male fertilization, and the birds laying eggs, which equates to female ovulation. In another telling of the story, a baby is created when a bee stings a bird. His work doesn't include any reference to the phrase with regard to sex and is, after all, aimed at educating children about nature, not using nature as a metaphor for human sexual behaviour.

When the little bluebird Who has never said a word Starts to sing Spring When the little bluebell At the bottom of the dell Starts to ring Ding dong Ding dong When the little blue clerk In the middle of his work Starts a tune to the moon up above It is nature that is all Simply telling us to fall in love And that's why birds do it, bees do it Even educated fleas do it Let's do it, let's fall in love.

Porter appears to have been making deliberate, if oblique, reference to 'the birds and the bees' and it is reasonable to assume that the phrase was common currency by The first reference that I can find to birds and bees in the context of sex education is a piece which was printed in the West Virginia newspaper The Charleston Gazette , in November You never talked about them or even recognized nice crooning little babies until they were already here.

Even then the mothers pretended to be surprised. It [sex] was whispered about, but never mentioned in public. Curious and unafraid, we looked into sex and found it perfectly natural, in the flowers and the trees the birds and the bees.

So, who coined and first used 'the birds and the bees' as the generic name for euphemistic sex education? We don't know.