"'...For p. 2441. Lucian in the Dialogue Χάρων ἢ ἐπισκοποῦντες ["Charon or the Inspectors"], after two-thirds of the Dialogue, in Charon's voice says: "'Ορῶ ποικίλην τινὰ τύρβην, καὶ μεστὸν ταραχῆς τὸν βίον, καὶ τὰς πόλεις γε αὐτῶν" (ἀνθρώπων) "ἐοικυίας τοĩς σμήνεσιν, ἐν οἷς ἄπας μὲν ἰδιόν τι κέντρον ἔχει, καὶ τὸν πλησίον κεντεĩ. ὀλίγοι δέ τινες, ὥσπερ σψῆκες, ἄγουσι και φέρουσι τὸν ὑποδεέστερου"  ["I see a great variety of occupations, a great bustle in life, and their cities" (of men) "similar to beehives, where each has his own stinger and stings his neighbor, while some few, like wasps, rob the weaker"]'** (Rome, 13 Dec 1822.)  

...[p. 2441, part way down] 'Never is anyone so willingly called, or heard called, as the person who has a recognized defect, either physical or moral, and is called by the name of the defect. So-and-so the deaf fellow, the cripple, the hunchback, the madman. Indeed, these people are ordinarily called only by these names, or if we call them by their name when they are not present it's very rare that the other name isn't added. In calling them or hearing them called thus, men feel themselves superior to these fellows, they enjoy the image of their defect, they feel and in a certain sense remind themselves about their own superiority, self-love is flattered and gratified by it...' (13 May 1822.)"

        - Giacomo Leopardi, Zibaldone. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, First paperback                       revised edition, 2015

Surely an invidious assessment that does a great disservice to actual bees and wasps.

**("What a jostling life it is! What a world of ups and downs! Their cities remind me of bee-hives. Every man keeps a sting for his neighbour’s service; and a few, like wasps, make spoil of their weaker brethren.") -- from The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Works of Lucian of Samosata, Volume 1, translated by Fowler and Fowler.