ABSTRACT
In Ancient Greece it was recounted that bees asked Zeus to ensure that their stings would prove mortal to man, who tried to steal their honey, and Zeus punished them for their malice by decreeing that they themselves should die after using their sting. Antipater of Thessalonika reacted vigorously to a story in which a baby was stung to death by bees: 'You savage horde of bees, you ltilled young baby
In many centuries stinging bees were used as a military weapon and as an instrument of punishment; see Chapter 50.
