How a Trader Used Bees to Smuggle 100 Kilograms of Honey from Italy to Switzerland

Shipping goods between countries usually means paying customs duties. But merchants often don’t want to hand over part of their earnings to the government. One clever trader was determined to smuggle 100 kilograms of honey from Italy to Switzerland. What could he do? He came up with a cunning plan that involved bees.

With an accomplice in the scheme, he carried jars of honey to the border and hid them in the woods. He crossed the border empty-handed, then quickly returned carrying several beehives full of bees. The bees went out to forage for nectar and quickly found the jars of honey hidden in the bushes. In no time, the jars were emptied—every drop of honey was safely moved into the hives on the other side of the border.