In ancient Greek mythology, it is told that after Zeus was born, he lived in a cave on the island of Crete in Greece, nurtured and raised by the Melissae, the divine beings of bees. As he grew older, Zeus bestowed upon humanity the honey produced by the bees, making it the food of the gods. From then on, bees were revered as sacred creatures by the ancient Greeks and were hailed as the deities of the people's collective spirit.