00:00MP Rahul Singh Lothi was inspecting an irrigation project in Madhya Pradesh when bees suddenly attacked.
00:10Officials, security personnel, even the MP himself scrambled to avoid getting stung.
00:15Thankfully, nobody was seriously hurt and Lothi even joked about buzz-worthy interruption.
00:20But bees causing chaos is not new.
00:23Throughout history, they've often played unexpected roles, even in warfare.
00:29One of the earliest accounts is from, I think, the 1st century BC when Roman troops under Pompey the Great stumbled onto honey left by their enemies.
00:39Interestingly, it is not the bees themselves that are employed in this instance, but their honey left as a poisonous bait to stupefy them.
00:46By the 11th century, people got more direct.
00:48Emperor Henry I's army threw beehives at attackers.
00:52During the Third Crusade, King Richard the Lionheart weaponized bee-filled hives against enemies.
00:57Even centuries later, during both World Wars, the Germans used bees as a disruptive element in warfare.
01:03They were deployed in booby traps such as strip wires that would topple a container holding bees.
01:08There are even some reports of the Viet Cong using Epis d'or Sata, also known as the Giant Honey Bee, against Americans during the Vietnam War.
01:16One legendary story comes from Bernberg, which translates to Bee Town in Northern Germany.
01:21Criminals here tried to attack a local convent, but the nuns simply unleashed their bees, driving the intruders away.
01:28Pretty savage, right?
01:29But beyond all this drama, bees are crucial for human life.
01:33Around 75% of our food crops depend on pollinators like bees.
01:38Without them, our food supply would suffer dramatically.
01:41Today, bees face threats from climate change, pesticides and shrinking habitats.
01:46So, this World Bee Day, let's underline this important fact.
01:50Bees are not just small insects.
01:52They are key players in our survival.
01:54I'm Manish Adhikari.
01:55Thank you for watching The Culture Project on Mo.
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