Snopester Bonnie has searched the Internets today in hopes of finding the source of the alleged Einstein bee quote. Despite poring through all the electronic databases known to man and bee (among them ProQuest, ProQuest Historical, LexisNexis Academic, Factiva, and JSTOR, she tells me), Bonnie has been unable to find any references earlier than the 1994 pamphlet distributed by the UNAF during its 1994 protest in Brussels.

I would tend to take any argument made during a protest with a large grain of salt, as they tend to play more to emotion than reason. My hunch is the quote was made up for the pamphlet to help sell the beekeepers’ story – just like most bogus quotes attributed to Einstein. The pamphlet likely had an expected shelf life of five minutes at most and thus had to make its argument quickly – perhaps with a quote from Dr. Einstein, real or not.

But the absence of proof is not proof. One cannot prove a negative, so the burden falls on whomever created the pamphlet to prove Einstein’s bee quote. Tracking this person down after thirteen years may prove more trouble than its worth, especially since this person likely wrote the pamphlet anonymously and preferred to stay that way. Without the help of some enterprising French sleuths to do the groundwork we may never know for sure.

With only the word of the pamphlet author to go on and no apparent supporting documentation, I’m inclined to conclude this quote is a fabrication.