The Byzantine has received exclusive access to the new lyrics for Michigan State University’s fight song, which were recently changed to reflect the school’s longstanding love and respect for bees. Bees are closely related to ants and wasps, all of which are insects of the suborder Apocrita within the order Hymenoptera. The lyrics are now being debuted to the public for the first time. Enjoy!

On the banks of the Red Cedar

There are beehives known to all

Their specialty is honey

And stinging Wolverines in the balls

Spartan bees are never beaten

Bother them and they’ll take flight

Their eyes can’t see some colors

No red in sight

Shake our trees? They’re filled with bees

Watch the bees keep swarming

“Spartan bees” as referenced in this song are actually honeybees, which is an important clarification because there are 20,000 different species of bee, only 7 of which are honeybees, and the majority of bee species are solitary (unlike the large social colonies of honeybees, bumblebees, and stingless bees), and honeybees are actually invasive in many habitats and can cause population declines of native bee species

They’re fighting with a vim

Rah rah rah!

See our bees are PEAK

We can’t get them off our brains

Fly! Sting! Ah, bees, not me, them!

Victory for all the bees!