Meaning of "Don't kick over the beehive"


I was wondering about the meaning of kick over and the type of context where it could be used. For instance:



If you want to gather honey, don't kick over the beehive.




Answer



Kick over means exactly that, to topple something by giving it a kick. If you do that to a beehive, you won't get the honey you're after, but you will get an angry swarm of bees looking to sting you.


So if you want something from people, maybe it's better not to stir up bad feelings. If you do, you won't achieve your aim, but it's likely you'll have angry people ready to attack you.


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