The mad mob does not ask how it could be better, only that it be different. And when it then becomes worse, it must change again. Thus they get bees for flies, and at last hornets for bees.

The saying warns against change pursued for its own sake—especially change driven by crowd passion rather than sober judgment. The “mad mob” seeks novelty (“only that it be different”) without asking whether reforms actually improve conditions. When the new order proves worse, the same restless impulse demands yet another change, producing a cycle of escalating harm. The insect sequence (“bees for flies… hornets for bees”) suggests that even if an initial change seems like an upgrade, repeated, unreflective upheaval can culminate in something far more dangerous than what was first rejected. Read as a conservative caution, it stresses prudence, discernment, and the moral responsibility to evaluate consequences rather than follow popular agitation.