The Birds and the Bees is a simple, side-scrolling collect ’em up, with you playing a bee, out collecting pollen from nearby flowers. It was released by Bug-Byte Software on the ZX Spectrum in 1983.

You must avoid flying birds, clouds, and other dangers, and touch the heads of flowers to open them up and collect the pollen. Then fly your collected pollen back to the hive. It’s easier said than done, but the way the bee moves makes playing the game very enjoyable. There’s also a useful ‘radar’ type display at the bottom of the screen, which gives you some indication of oncoming enemies.

That said: The Birds and the Bees is nowhere near as interesting to play as its sequel – Antics.

The Birds and the Bees is notable for contributions to the graphical side of things, by Manic Miner and Jet Set Willy author Matthew Smith, and also for being Currah Microspeech compatible (meaning: if you had the add-on, the game had synthesised speech)

Doesn’t currently have its own Wikipedia page, though. Which shows its relative obscurity.

More: The Birds and the Bees on World of Spectrum