When was the term ';birds and the bees'; coined?

';The birds and the bees'; (sometimes expanded to ';the birds, the bees and the butterflies'; or ';the birds, the bees, the flowers, and the trees';) is a commonly used phrase (which has become somewhat of a clich茅) which refers to clumsy or inept attempts at sex education for children or adolescents, such as the use of euphemisms or symbols to describe sexual behaviour or body parts. A discussion about ';the birds and the bees'; may therefore involve references to nature (ie. animals and plants) without actually describing human biology or providing any useful insight.





Word sleuths William and Mary Morris hint that it may have been inspired by words like these from the poet Samuel Coleridge ';All nature seems at work ... The bees are stirring--birds are on the wing ... and I the while, the sole unbusy thing, not honey make, nor pair, nor build, nor sing.'; around the turn of the 19th century.





Or possibly derived from Kamadeva, Hindu god of love that is accompanied by a selection of Birds and Bees at all times.


K膩madeva is represented as a young and handsome winged man who wields a bow and arrows. His bow is made of sugarcane with honeybees on it as the string and his arrows are decorated with five kinds of fragrant flowers. Its string is made of a chain of honeybees.


His companions are a cuckoo, a parrot, hummingbees, and the gentle breeze. All of these are symbols of spring season.


Which would mean that the phrase would have been around for at least 3500 years.





:-)When was the term ';birds and the bees'; coined?
i think it has something to do with crossbreeding or something, like making some kinda hybrid freaks of natureWhen was the term ';birds and the bees'; coined?
who is who?