To continue along the lines started by Liz Day:
 
     A story of eastern European origin probably derives from a
time when many gods were worshipped, later being altered to
conform with the Christian monotheistic concept.
 
          The devil was spying on God when He was creating
     the birds and insects. God took a bit of mist from the
     air, spun it in His fingers and called out the name of
     the new creature, "Bee!" And so the first bee was
     brought to life.  The devil was a bit confused by what
     he saw and thought that God had called the creature
     into existence by telling it to "Be!" So when he tried
     a similar trick, gathering up a bit of clay from the
     earth and mixing it with his own sweat he told it to
     "Fly!" Of course, in this way it was not another
     beautiful bee that was formed but the ugly and pesky
     fly that, ever since, has plagued humans as much as bees
     have benefitted them.
 
(I've altered the "letter" of the story a bit to maintain its
spirit.  In the original, Hungarian, version the word-play centers
on "legy" meaning both "become" and a "fly").
 
        -
       "  `            Conrad Berube
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