Kalleh asks elsewhere, "Do they have spelling bees in England?"

Why is it called a bee?

Interesting question, and I looked around a bit, but didn't find anything.

I did find a nice site for the Scripps National Spelling Bee (probably our most famous one), and while perusing it, I found this page that you English posters might find interesting. If you were to spell "vigor" as "vigour," it would not be correct.

Dictionary.com
O.E. beo, from P.Gmc. *bion (cf. O.H.G. bia, M.Du. bie), possibly from PIE base *bhi- "quiver." Used metaphorically for "busy worker" since 1535. Sense of "meeting of neighbors to unite their labor for the benefit of one of their number," 1769, Amer.Eng., is from comparison to the social activity of the insect; this was extended to other senses (e.g. spelling bee, first attested 1809). Beehive is first attested c.1325; as a kind of hairstyle, 1960.
spelling bee

The most common bee here in the US is the SOB.