[ WP ] It was n't humans who built the Tower of Babel . It was bees .

My father once told me a story that he claimed had been passed down from the oldest times. Once, as he told it, there was the hive of bees. I interrupted him to ask if he meant the hive at the bottom of the garden and he sighed, pushed his glasses up his nose and explained that back then there was only one hive then and if I interrupted again I would n't get dessert for the next week. With such an awful threat looming over me I quietened up to listen. 
 
 `` Back then the hive was prosperous. The bees worked and harvested the flowers of the land and themselves grew large and strong. Their hive grew and grew, always adding new rooms, ever building outwards and upwards. It was a splendid sight to gaze upon, visible from miles away jutting up from the horizon. 
 
 `` People eventually came to the hive but they were a primitive people, easily fascinated. They gazed up at the monolithic hive with awe and settled nearby, tending the fertile land the bees had kept for so long. The bees did not mind. The humans took only the fruits of the trees and plants and the flowers were left for the bees. So it continued for many years and the hive grew ever taller. 
 
 `` Now, these people brought with them a god capable of great mercy but also capable of great wrath. They made a critical mistake and bowed down to the hive, for what had they witnessed in their lives that compared to the glorious peak of the hive piercing the sky? 
 
 `` The first rule of their god was `` You shall have no other Gods but me,'' and the people had disobeyed with their worship of the hive. Their god visited upon them a curse. He confused their language so they could no longer understand each other, and they scattered. Now, I would not take it 
 
 `` God was angry and brought down the curse of tongues upon all who settled near the hive. I do not know if he intended to, but he also cursed the bees so none could understand each other. The humans scattered shortly and the hive began to fall into chaos. The workers could no longer understand the queen's direction and the foundations of the hive began to fall into disrepair. Instead of overseeing construction or harvests the queen's daughters fled the collapsing hive. You'll never find the hive today. It's all dust and memories.'' 
 
 My father paused here. `` Is that how bees came to build thousands of separate hives?'' I asked hesitantly. 
 
 `` No,'' he replied, `` You need to learn that your actions affect those around you. Your mother nearly broke her neck when she tripped over your skateboard.''
