The Queen of the Bees ascended to the peak of the mountain to present some fresh honeycomb to the Goddess Demeter.
Overjoyed with the divine offering of honey, the Goddess declared:
“As the Queen of your kind, you shall be granted to be given whatsoever you ask of me”.

The Queen Bee responded: “Our honey is of the finest quality because of the time and effort taken by all of my bee’s dedicated hours gathering from the flowers in the valleys and meadows. Despite our best efforts, it is stolen from us time and time again by the race of Mankind. Grant me the wish, so that we may sting any that approach my hives and take our honey – and give us the right to kill them if they do”.

The Goddess Demeter was displeased with the request that would result in the deaths of man, but could not refuse what she had promised.

So she answered: “You shall have your request and will be given a sting with which you may use against all those who attempt to take your honey. But you have not considered that you too are granted the abundance of flowers from which you gather the pollen and nectar from which to make your honey. You take freely from the flowers, but do not wish to give of your harvest to the race of Mankind who plant the flowers and tend the ground they grow in”.

The Queen Bee appeared unhappy with the response, as she could not see why she should have to be grateful for anything that Mankind did.

The Goddess continued – “You present your gift to me, only to use what is granted to you for your own purposes to use against others. So, your request will be given to you but at the peril of your own lives.
For if you use your sting, it shall remain in the wound that you make upon men, and you will die from the choice to use it because of the loss of it to you”.

And the Moral of the story is:
Those who see themselves as superior over others will always create their own destruction.