SHAKESPEARE'S TAKE ON BEES

THE COMMONWEALTH OF BEES (KING HENRY V)

So work the honey bees;

Creatures that, by a rule in nature, teach

The act of order to a peopled kingdom.

They have a king and officers of sorts:

Where some, like magistrates, correct at home:

Others, like merchants, venture trade aboard;

Others, like soldiers, armed in their stings,

Make boot upon the summer’s velvet buds;

Which pillage they with merry march bring home

To the tent royal of their emperor:

Who, busied in his majesty, surveys

The singing masons building roofs of gold;

The civil citizens kneading up the honey;

The poor mechanic porters crowding in

Their heavy burdens at his narrow gate;

The sad-eyed justice, with his surly hum,

Delivering o’er to executors pale

The lazy yawning drone.