«اِلْكَلَامْ زَيِّ النَّحْلْ مَا يِخْرُجْشْ إِلَّا بِالدُّخَّانْ»

When a person questioned about something keeps denying it, polite asking will not draw out the truth. The saying claims that only firm pressure or harsh handling will make that person admit what they are holding back.

The picture comes from beekeeping: bees will not quit the hive on their own, so the keeper smokes them out to reach the honey. Hidden words, likewise, are imagined as needing to be forced out rather than invited.

Said of someone who denies a charge or withholds information and is assumed to confess only under strong pressure. The saying voices that coercive outlook; it should not be presented as endorsing coercion or as a sound way of establishing the truth.