It was inspired by Maurice Maeterlinck's 1901 essay "La Vie des Abeilles" (The Life of Bees), which Stravinsky and his wife Catherine Nossenko read in 1907.
Para a súa composición, Stravinskii inspirouse no ensaio de 1901 de Maurice Maeterlinck La Vie des Abeilles (A Vida das Abellas), que Stravinskii e súa muller Catherine Nossenko leran en 1907.