Literal translation
loaded like a bee, like a donkey
Meaning
heavily loaded
Explanation
Heavily loaded, like a bee or like a donkey. The donkey, an emblematic animal of Mediterranean countries, offers an image close to the French chargé comme une mule (loaded like a mule). The bee image, more original and one that stayed strictly Provençal, carries a positive value since the insect loads itself with pollen that will become honey, an old and renowned activity in Provence. A rhymed rhetorical question comes from it, de qu'as fa piho, que siés carga coumo uno abiho, or as carga l'ai, asked of someone who has just filled the trunk of the car to leave on vacation.