Spelling Bee or Spelling Been?

Checking in with the local news a few days ago, it was cool to read that Baltimore County third-grader Shaheer Iman spelled the word “Fuselage” to win the seventh annual Baltimore Spelling Bee on March 17 at Towson University. He’s now getting ready for the National Spelling Bee on May 30 and 31 in Washington, D.C. You can find the full article here:

Catonsville third-grader wins Baltimore Spelling Bee

As a new and upcoming Beekeeper, I’m now curious about the “Bee” in “Spelling Bee.” Does it have anything to do with Bees? It has to, right? I mean, why else would they use the bee and the hexagonal combs they so carefully weave as the logos for the Scripps National Spelling Bee? A little research on the etymology of the word “Bee” as found in the term “Spelling Bee,” will actually teach one a thing or two on the common American idiom. The Scripps National Spelling Bee webpage actually has a section on the origin of the expression:

The word bee, as used in spelling bee, is one of those language puzzles that has never been satisfactorily accounted for. A fairly old and widely-used word, it refers to a community social gathering at which friends and neighbors join together in a single activity (sewing, quilting, barn raising, etc.) usually to help one person or family.

The earliest known example in print is a spinning bee, in 1769. Other early occurrences are husking bee (1816), apple bee (1827), and logging bee (1836). Spelling bee is apparently an American term. It first appeared in print in 1875, but it seems certain that the word was used orally for several years before that.

Those who used the word, including most early students of language, assumed that it was the same word as referred to the insect. They thought that this particular meaning had probably been inspired by the obvious similarity between these human gatherings and the industrious, social nature of a beehive. But in recent years scholars have rejected this explanation, suggesting instead that this bee is a completely different word.

One possibility is that it comes from the Middle English word bene, which means “a prayer” or “a favor” (and is related to the more familiar word boon). In England, a dialect form of this word, been or bean, referred to “voluntary help given by neighbors toward the accomplishment of a particular task.” (Webster's Third New International Dictionary).

Bee may simply be a shortened form of been, but no one is entirely certain.

So the next time you have some sort of gathering, don’t hesitate naming the activity a “Bee” of some sort. You might be surprised at what new, original trend you may start without even thinking about it.