# Why do Bees Speak Spanish? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 10, 2007, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bees-speak-spanish/387371 "2007-01-10T03:23:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2007, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bees-speak-spanish/387371/1 "2007-01-10T03:23:38Z")
1. The Spanish-speaking bee guy from The Simpsons 2. The spokesbee for Nasonex who speaks English with a very suave Spanish accent. 3. Some old SNL skit that was making fun of Spanish variety shows, and a guy came out in a bee suit. You know what they say–if something happens twice, it’s a coincidence. If it happens three times, it’s an international conspiracy. Or a pattern. Or something. Really, I just want to know what the connection is between bees and Spanish. Anybody know? Gracias in advance. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2007, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bees-speak-spanish/387371/2 "2007-01-10T03:28:55Z")
In Mexico there was a comedian who was famous for wearing a bee suit. Someone will be along with more on this in a bit. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2007, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bees-speak-spanish/387371/3 "2007-01-10T03:32:00Z")
[QUOTE=Green Bean] 1. The Spanish-speaking bee guy from The Simpsons 2. The spokesbee for Nasonex who speaks English with a very suave Spanish accent. 3. Some old SNL skit that was making fun of Spanish variety shows, and a guy came out in a bee suit. [/QUOTE] It was the other way around. The old SNL skit was Killer Bees that had come north from Mexico and thus were made out to be Mexican Banditos. I believe that this very popular skit, cemented the concept of Spanish speaking Bees in the American mind. The Simpson Bee was inspired by a [Spanish TV variety show](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_recurring_characters_from_The_Simpsons#Bumblebee_Man). > [@](#): > > Pedro Chespirito, known as the Bumblebee Man … He is a caricature of “El Chapulín Colorado” (The Red Grasshopper), a character created and portrayed by Mexican television comedian Chespirito, … Jim ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2007, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bees-speak-spanish/387371/4 "2007-01-10T03:32:05Z")
I was under the impression that the Nasonex spokesbee affected a French accent, no doubt taught to him by Pepe LePew, as their affectation of accent seems very similar. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2007, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bees-speak-spanish/387371/5 "2007-01-10T03:40:28Z")
[QUOTE=What Exit?] It was the other way around. The old SNL skit was Killer Bees that had come north from Mexico and thus were made out to be Mexican Banditos. I believe that this very popular skit, cemented the concept of Spanish speaking Bees in the American mind. [/QUOTE] Nah, I’m not talking about the killer bees thing. This SNL skit was much more recent. Maya Rudolph was the host of the show, and Horatio Sanz was in there, somewhere. The Chespirito connection makes perfect sense, though! ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2007, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bees-speak-spanish/387371/6 "2007-01-10T03:48:58Z")
[QUOTE=Green Bean] Nah, I’m not talking about the killer bees thing. This SNL skit was much more recent. Maya Rudolph was the host of the show, and Horatio Sanz was in there, somewhere. The Chespirito connection makes perfect sense, though! [/QUOTE] Sorry, I either do not remember the recent one or put it out of my memory. Jim ---
**Author:** ![Susie\_Derkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47774/32.png) [@Susie\_Derkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susie_Derkins)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2007, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bees-speak-spanish/387371/7 "2007-01-10T03:50:13Z")
[QUOTE=Polycarp] I was under the impression that the Nasonex spokesbee affected a French accent, no doubt taught to him by Pepe LePew, as their affectation of accent seems very similar. [/QUOTE] Nah, it’s just [Antonio Banderas](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000104/otherworks) sounding like…_cheesy_ Antonio Banderas. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2007, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bees-speak-spanish/387371/8 "2007-01-10T03:55:57Z")
[QUOTE=Susie Derkins] Nah, it’s just [Antonio Banderas](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000104/otherworks) sounding like…_cheesy_ Antonio Banderas. [/QUOTE] That’s funny. In my OP, I was going to say that the Nasonex bee was “trying to sound like Antonio Banderas,” but I changed it because I thought that might seem like I was just using a stereotype. Little did I know… ---
**Author:** ![Random](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/57b2e6/32.png) [@Random](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Random)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2007, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bees-speak-spanish/387371/9 "2007-01-10T05:05:21Z")
[QUOTE=Green Bean] Nah, I’m not talking about the killer bees thing. This SNL skit was much more recent. [/QUOTE] Yeah, but by the time of the later skit, the mexican bee association had already been created, in large part by the earlier killer bee skits. ---
**Author:** ![LorieSmurf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a587f6/32.png) [@LorieSmurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LorieSmurf)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2007, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bees-speak-spanish/387371/10 "2007-01-10T09:46:05Z")
[QUOTE=Susie Derkins] Nah, it’s just [Antonio Banderas](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000104/otherworks) sounding like…_cheesy_ Antonio Banderas. [/QUOTE] I _knew_ that was Antonio Banderas! I just didn’t want to believe it. ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2007, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bees-speak-spanish/387371/11 "2007-01-10T13:32:41Z")
it is probably just because "Las más avanzadas eusociales, son las que viven en grandes colonias. Los apicultores denominan colmenas al habitáculo diseñado para lograr racionalidad en su explotación conjuntamente con las abejas. Las abejas melíferas pueden ser clasificadas en dos grandes grupos las abejas melíferas con aguijón del género Apis y las abejas melíferas sin aguijón que también son melíferas comúnmente denominadas melipónidos o meliponas. Las abejas eusociales son insectos sociales con tres diferentes tipos de individuos o castas en la colonia: reinas, zánganos y obreras. Cada casta tiene su función especial y desarrollan un tipo de trabajo diferenciado en la colonia. La reina y las obreras son hembras y los zánganos son machos. Cada casta tiene un tiempo o ciclo de desarrollo diferente propio para cada especie y se cría en distintos tipos de celdas. El periodo de desarrollo de la abeja reina en el caso de Apis mellifera es de 16 días, las obreras 21 días y los zánganos 23 días. Las abejas comen miel especial para convertirse en reina. Cuando un apicultor se refiere a sus colmenas en forma colectiva lo hace desde un concepto intuitivo de colectividad, al hablar de los componentes de un apiario, habla lógicamente del conocimiento de la biología de las abejas, cuya naturaleza social hace que el individuo, en sí mismo, carezca de valor en favor de la colectividad de las abejas. Por todo ello se dice que la colmena es un superorganismo. Este superorganismo se comporta con sinergia que es el efecto producido por la interacción entre los componentes de un sistema que hace que el todo sea más que la suma de las partes individuales. A esta sinergía de conjunto demostrada por Farrar matemáticamente hace muchos años, la denominaremos Regla de Farrar." or something like that. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2007, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bees-speak-spanish/387371/12 "2007-01-10T13:52:41Z")
But Antonio’s accent is Spanish, not Mexican! ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2007, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bees-speak-spanish/387371/13 "2007-01-10T14:07:17Z")
**Sapo** –Please provide us with a translation. I’d like to know what you said. Also, I notice that you’re new here. We have a [guideline](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=7697021&postcount=8) about posting in English that you may not have noticed. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2007, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bees-speak-spanish/387371/14 "2007-01-10T14:20:54Z")
[QUOTE=LorieSmurf] I _knew_ that was Antonio Banderas! I just didn’t want to believe it. [/QUOTE] I maintain that most of his best roles are when he’s making fun of himself, ala Shrek 2. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2007, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bees-speak-spanish/387371/15 "2007-01-10T14:21:49Z")
[QUOTE=Green Bean] **Sapo** –Please provide us with a translation. I’d like to know what you said. [/quote] It’s taken from the Spanish version of Wikipedia, [here.](http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abeja) I’m not going to attempt to translate it because of its length, but it just describes classification and social structure of the bee family Apidae and the care of honeybees by beekeepers. ---
**Author:** ![hawthorne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@hawthorne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawthorne)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2007, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bees-speak-spanish/387371/16 "2007-01-10T14:24:54Z")
“El Chapulín Colorado” looks hilarious. Can anyone confirm? > [@](#): > > More agile than a turtle… stronger than a mouse… nobler than lettuce… ---
**Author:** ![CBEscapee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b19c9b/32.png) [@CBEscapee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CBEscapee)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2007, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bees-speak-spanish/387371/17 "2007-01-10T14:25:02Z")
[QUOTE=What Exit?] The Simpson Bee was inspired by a [Spanish TV variety show](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_recurring_characters_from_The_Simpsons#Bumblebee_Man). Jim [/QUOTE] That would be a **Mexican** TV show. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2007, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bees-speak-spanish/387371/18 "2007-01-10T15:14:03Z")
[QUOTE=CBEscapee] That would be a **Mexican** TV show. [/QUOTE] I meant Spanish, as in Spanish speaking as in the Title of the thread. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2007, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bees-speak-spanish/387371/19 "2007-01-10T15:20:27Z")
I wouldn’t call _El Chapulin Colorado_ a “variety show,” but a slapstick comedy. Both it and Chespirito’s other classic show, _El Chavo del Ocho_ are shown constantly on TV here in Panama. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2007, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bees-speak-spanish/387371/20 "2007-01-10T16:19:37Z")
Yeah…no more of that binary text in here, amigo. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bees-speak-spanish/387371.md?page=2)