In a hilarious play on words, Milan was yesterday invaded by bees, with a bunch of them settling on a Vespa scooter in Piazza San Babila.
The word for bee in Italian – “ape” – is also used for the little three-wheeled Piaggio trucks which were originally based on the Vespa scooter.
“Vespa” means ‘wasp’ in Italian and we’re amused to find this nest of escaped bees settling on the namesake of a larger breed of similar insect.
Piazza San Babila is a busy spot in Milan but the entire area around this bustling underground station was cordoned off for a full six hours before a bee-keeper could be found to come and move the swarm.
According to reports, with the possibility that these kinds of bees would have become extinct just a couple of years ago, their presence in our cities is a good thing….
Maybe not for the Vespa owner, though.
Bees invade Vespa scooter in Milan