“No bees, no honey” (Neque mel, neque apes) is a Latin phrase that means that, according to Erasmus (1466-1536), “every convenience hath its concomitant inconvenience.” A modern, English rhyming version (cited in print since at least 1889) is:
“No bees, no honey; no work, no money.”
Google Books
Proverbs, Chiefly Taken from the Adagia of Erasmus, with Explanations;
and with explanations;
and further illustrated by corresponding examples from the Spanish, Italian, French & English languages
Edited by R. Bland
London: T. Egerton
1814
Pg. 137:
Neque Mel, neque Apes.
No bees, no honey. Every convenience hath its concomitant inconvenience; if we are averse to bearing the one, we ought not to expect to enjoy the other. “If we would have eggs, we must bear with the cackling of the hen.”
Hathi Trust Digital Library
Latin Proverbs and Quotations
With translations and parallel passages and a copious English index
Edited by Alfred Henderson
London: S. Low, son, and Marston
1869
Pg. 256:
Neque mel, neque apes.—No bees, no honey.
“No song, no supper.”
“A horse that will not carry a saddle must have no oats.”
Google Books
The Salt-Cellars:
Being a collection of proverbs (Volume 2)
By Charles Haddon Spurgeon
London: Passmor and Alabaster
1889
Pg. 47:
No bees, no honey;
No work, no money.
Google Books
A Book of Quotations, Proverbs and Household Words
By Sir William Gurney Benham
Philadelphia, PA: J. B. Lippincott Company
1907
Pg. 832:
No bees, no honey;
No work, no money.
Google Books
The Aldine Speller
Part 2, For Grades Three and Four
By Catherine Turner Bryce and Frank J. Sherman
New York, NY: Newson & Company
1916
Pg. 17:
No bees, no honey;
No work, no money.
Google Books
Book of Proverbs, Axioms, Popular Sayings
By Mrs. Jayanthi Madan, Sura College of Competition
Chennai: T. Krishna Press
2004
Pg. 29:
No bees, no honey; no work no money.
Google Books
Little Giant Encyclopedia: Toasts & Quotes
By The Diagram Group
New York, NY: Sterling Publishing Company, Inc.
2009
Pg. 482:
No bees, no honey; no work, no money.
ANONYMOUS
Above, a 1934 plaque from the Big Apple Night Club at West 135th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem. Discarded as trash in 2006. Now a Popeyes fast food restaurant on Google Maps.
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Above, John J. Fitz Gerald, from the Aug. 15, 1931, Binghamton (NY) Press, pg. 14.
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