In this myth from ancient Rome, a brave bee asks for a powerful weapon—but it comes with a price
Learning Objective: Students will read a play and identify its genre-defining characteristics.
Prologue
Kid 1: Who doesn’t like honeybees?
Kid 2: They’re so cute and fuzzy and buzzy.
Kid 1: And they make the best treat of all: sweet, sweet honey.
Kid 3: Well, I don’t like bees. I got stung once, and it really hurt!
Jupiter: Oh! About that . . .
Kid 2 (shocked): Who are you?!
Jupiter: I am Jupiter, king of the gods!
Juno: Ahem.
Jupiter: And this is my wife, Juno, queen of the gods!
Juno and Jupiter (proudly): We are the famous gods of ancient Rome—
Juno: —a highly advanced society that existed more than 2,000 years ago.
Jupiter: And we gave bees their stingers!
Kid 3: We want to hear the story!
Juno and Jupiter: Let’s bee-gin.
Scene 1
N1: In a big field at the edge of a forest, two bees fly from flower
to flower.
N2: They’ve been slurping a sugary liquid called nectar from thousands
of blossoms.
Bianca (stretching): That’s enough work for today. There’s only one more thing to do.
Beatrice: Take the nectar back to the beehive to turn it into honey?
Bianca: OK, two more things.
Beatrice (puzzled): What?
Bianca: Hive-five.
N3: The bees laugh and fly toward their beehive. It hangs from a low tree branch.
N1: Suddenly, Bianca freezes.
Bianca: What are those things?!
N2: Three enormous creatures are near the beehive.
N3: One reaches toward it.
Beatrice: They’re monsters!
N1: Flora, the goddess of flowers, appears in a swirl of petals.
Flora: No, my dears. They are called humans.
Bianca: Why are they here?
Flora: They’re probably hoping you could share—
Beatrice: They’re stealing our honey!
Scene 2
N2: Inside the hive, honeycomb walls filled with honey shine like gold.
N3: Thousands of bees buzz in a panic.
All Bees: BZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.
N1: The hive’s leader, Queen Bee, is struggling to keep order.
Queen Bee: Everyone bee quiet!
N2: Beatrice and Bianca fly to the front of the crowd.
Beatrice (out of breath): We saw them. Three of them.
Bianca: They were huge!
Beatrice: Flora called them “hoo-mens.”
N3: The hive erupts with questions.
Bee 1: Hoo-mens? What do they want?
Bee 2: Are they trying to move in?
Bee 3: There’s no space!
Queen Bee: SILENCE!
N1: The hive goes so still, you can hear wings flap.
Queen Bee: I’ve heard about these creatures. Humans have a sweet tooth. They will want more of our honey.
Beatrice: What can we do?
Queen Bee (sighing): We can only hope they do not return.
Scene 3
N2: But the humans do return.
N3: Again.
N1: And again.
N2: And again.
Bianca: I can’t bee-lieve they keep robbing us!
N3: The hive is almost out of honey.
Beatrice: We need to fix this.
Bianca (thinking): What if we make sour honey that’s too gross to eat? Or tickle the humans with our wings until they leave!
Beatrice: No. We need something bigger.
Bianca: What?
N1: But Beatrice is already racing to the queen.
N2: She finds Queen Bee in her room, counting her last bottles of honey.
Beatrice: My queen, I want to help protect our hive.
Queen Bee: How? We don’t have anything to defend ourselves with.
Beatrice: Let me go to the home of the gods on Mount Olympus. I want to ask Jupiter for help.
Queen Bee: That’s risky. Jupiter is known for being moody—
N3: Just then, the hive begins to shake.
N1: Humans are grabbing more honey.
Queen Bee: —but it’s a risk we must take.
N2: The queen hands a glittering bottle to Beatrice.
N3: It’s her finest honey.
Queen Bee: Give this to Jupiter. It may convince him to help us.
Beatrice (bowing): Thank you, my queen.
Queen Bee: Gods are clever, Beatrice. If Jupiter grants you a wish, you must accept it. So bee careful!
Scene 4
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N1: Beatrice flies to Mount Olympus.
N2: She looks like a speck against its huge gates. A guard squints down at her.
Beatrice: I have a gift for Jupiter.
Guard (laughing): What gift could a tiny little bee give the greatest of the gods?
N3: The guard leads Beatrice inside.
Jupiter: Yes?
N1: Beatrice bows and hands Jupiter the bottle.
Beatrice: A gift to you from my queen.
N2: Jupiter snaps his fingers. The bottle grows in size.
N3: He sips the golden liquid.
Jupiter: This . . .
N1: He smacks his lips.
Jupiter: . . . is . . .
N2: Beatrice’s heart pounds.
Jupiter: . . . delicious!
Beatrice (relieved): Whew!
Jupiter: I must thank you with a wish. What would you like?
N3: Beatrice pauses for a second, then blurts out—
Beatrice: A weapon to defend ourselves against humans!
N1: Jupiter’s smile vanishes.
N2: Thunder booms in the distance.
Jupiter: But I love humans! You want to harm them?
N3: Juno enters.
Juno: What’s going on?
Jupiter: A bee is asking me to grant a terrible wish.
Beatrice: I only wish to help my hive! Humans steal our honey.
N1: Juno tastes the honey.
Juno: Mmm! I agree with the little bee.
Beatrice and Jupiter: You do?!
Juno: Yes. Honey is worth protecting.
Jupiter: Fine. Honeybees will receive a weapon . . . but any who use it will lose their life.
N2: Beatrice gasps.
N3: She grows a razor-sharp stinger.
Jupiter (amused): Now bee on your way.
Scene 5
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In real life, honeybees can only sting once. They don’t survive after using their stingers.
N1: Beatrice is slowly flying back toward the hive when petals begin to swirl. Flora appears.
Beatrice: Flora, this isn’t fair! All humans do is take from us.
Flora: You know what humans take. But do you know why?
Beatrice: Easy. They have a sweet tooth!
N2: Flora guides Beatrice through a human village.
N3: Warm light glows from the windows of their homes.
Flora (pointing): Those are called candles. Humans make them from the honeycombs you use to store honey. It helps them see at night.
Beatrice: Humph. They could just wait for the sun to rise.
N1: Beatrice peers into the window. A mother gives honey to a coughing child.
N2: The cough becomes softer.
Flora: Honey can be a powerful medicine for humans.
N3: They fly off. A sweet smell fills the air.
Beatrice (sniffing): What is that?
N1: A family pulls warm bread from an oven.
Flora: Humans use honey to sweeten food.
Beatrice (softly): They need honey too.
Flora: Now you’re getting it.
Scene 6
N2: Beatrice returns to the hive.
N3: All the bees buzz with excitement about their new stingers.
Bianca: Look! We’re pointy!
N1: Queen Bee steps forward.
Queen Bee: What happened with Jupiter?
Beatrice: We can protect the hive now—
All Bees: Woooo!
Beatrice: —but there’s a catch. Anyone who uses their weapon . . . will lose their life.
N2: The cheering stops.
Queen Bee: Then it’s useless!
N3: Beatrice explains Jupiter’s decision and what she’s learned about humans.
Bee 1: If humans need honey, we can share.
Bee 2: But what do we do if they take too much?
Bee 3: We don’t want to use our weapon!
Queen Bee: Unless we really have to . . .
Beatrice: Exactly! The gods are clever. But we can be too. We don’t always have to use our stingers—
Bianca (thoughtfully): —we just need humans to think we will.
N1: Once again, the hive begins to shake.
Bianca: Humans!
Queen Bee: Everyone, quick! Follow them!
All Bees: BZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.
N2: The bees chase the humans with their stingers.
Humans: AHHHHHHHHHHH!
N3: The humans run far away.
N1: The bees fly back to the hive, laughing.
Bianca: Now that was fun.
Beatrice (grinning): I think our honey will bee safe now.
Epilogue
Jupiter: And that’s why bees have stingers.
Kid 2: Hmm. I don’t think you were fair to the bees.
Kid 3: Well, I don’t think the bees were fair to the humans!
Juno: I think it was a sweet deal.
Jupiter: Now bees think twice before stinging humans.
Juno: And humans think twice before taking too much from bees.
Kid 1: You know what that means . . .
Juno and Jupiter: More honey for us!
Think & Write
Write a paragraph that explains why this story is a myth. Use details from the Background Builder and the play in your answer.
This story was originally published in the September 2026 issue.
