Editing Bee-eater (section)

==In culture==
[[File:Kopf des Aristoteles 1.jpg|thumb|[[Aristotle]] advised the killing of bee-eaters to protect [[beehive|hives]]]]

Bee-eaters were mentioned by ancient writers such as [[Aristotle]] and [[Virgil]], who both advised [[beekeeper]]s to kill the birds. Aristotle knew that bee-eaters nested at the end of tunnels up to {{convert|2|m|ft|abbr=on}} long and the size of their clutch. He said that nesting adults were fed by their own young, based on the observed actual help at the nest by related birds.<ref name="cocker" />

In [[Greek mythology]], the [[Thebes, Greece|Theban]] [[Botres]] was fatally struck by his father when he desecrated a ritual sacrifice of a ram to the god [[Apollo]] by tasting the victim's brains. The god took pity on him, turning him into a bee-eater.<ref name="forbes" />

The [[Ancient Egypt]]ians believed that bee-eaters had medical properties, prescribing the application of bee-eater fat to deter biting flies, and treating the eyes with the smoke from charred bee-eater legs to cure an unspecified female complaint.<ref name="cocker" />

In [[Hinduism]], the shape of the bird in flight was thought to resemble a bow, with the long bill as an arrow. This led to a [[Sanskrit]] name meaning "[[Vishnu]]'s bow" and an association with archer gods. [[Defamation|Scandalmonger]]s were thought to be [[reincarnation|reincarnated]] as bee-eaters, because of the metaphorical poison they bore in their mouths.<ref name="cocker" />

Depictions in classical art are rare for such striking birds. The only known Ancient Egyptian example is a relief, probably of a little green bee-eater, on a wall of Queen [[Hatshepsut|Hatshepsut's]] [[mortuary temple]], and an early [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] mural depicting blue-cheeked bee-eaters was found in the villa of [[Agrippina the Younger|Agrippina]]. Bee-eaters have been depicted on the postage stamps of at least 38 countries, the European and Carmine bee-eaters being the most common subjects, with 18 and 11 countries respectively.<ref name="hbwfamily" />
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