There is a character in Lord of the Rings who was a beekeeper. He was
able to talk to them, and they were unusually large. Unfortunately,
Beorn, as he was called ended up stuck full of orc arrows. (No
mention is made of what happened to the bees.) Another famous bee
keeper, in sofar as his signature was on a few million bank notes,
was the last governor of the bank of England, who used to keep a hive
or two on the roof of the Bank of England, in the very built up old
City of London. Still thinking about classical sources. Andrew