Brutal Ritual (Yes S, this IS one too)

I'm not sure whether it's something they do here or if it's peculiar to the US, but I think I need to go to a Spelling Bee. I was intrigued by the following statement, part of a Yahoo USA News report:

The chairs on the ballroom stage emptied one by one, left vacant by those who had guessed and walked away disappointed. Rarely has a spelling bee round been this brutal.

Is there a Spelling Bee season? Or is it just coincide that this report follows a recent episode of Family Guy where hero (???) Peter Griffin goes back to primary school and, while there, takes part in a SB. Each time he is given a word, he asks for it to be used in a sentence - which the Bee administrator (is there a special name for this?) does - but still Peter hesitates, and then asks for the word to be used in a rude sentence - and only then does he spell the words correctly - eventually winning the Bee. (Do Bees have knees?)
I once avoided watching a film starring Richard Gere about a Spelling Bee (Thanks Google: Bee Season {2005} - guess that answers that question) - but it may be time to revisit it - or take a trip to the States, or do some local research into SBs - although I think the US may be the home of the SB and that would be the best option. So, is there a Spelling Bee Season, and when is it?