Hi, A friend of mine who works at BOC (the old British Gas) was
telling us about the good old days when they used carbide in the
headlights of cars. I don't know if he was bullshitting but he reckons
they used to put bees in the headlights cause their flying around
would stir up the carbide rocks and they crash together forming
sparks...its sounds pretty sketchy but bloody amazing if its
true....is there any stuff on the internet about that....specifically
the use of bees with carbide or carbide rocks in headlights or just
bees used with carbide to generate electricity or just bees used at
all in the production of electricity....cheers....

I'm not a chemist, but I can't see how a bee could affect this
process, let alone be placed in the headlamp.
"The carbide lamp operates because of a chemical reaction between
calcium carbide, and water:
CaC2 + 2H2O -> Ca(OH)2 + C2H2 + heat
The water is stored in a reservoir above the carbide. Set at a rate
determined by the user, the water will drip into the carbide chamber.
When the water touches the carbide it will produce a hot, damp lime
powder and acetylene gas. The gas passes through a filter, through a
gas tube, and then through the tip where the gas can be ignited to
produce a bright, gentle flame. "
http://members.tripod.com/carbidecaver/intro.htm
answerfinder-ga

I suspect that your friend was having a bit of fun with you. Although
carbide headlamps were used in early automobiles, I cannot imagine
that the presence of bees would be anything but a hindrance. I've
found not a single mention of this online; if there were a scrap of
truth to it, surely someone somewhere on the Internet would have
discussed it.

In days of yore when carbide was the most efficacious means of
illumination, perchance on occasion ones water receptacle would become
depleted and darkness would ensue. After advising lady acquaintances
to avert their eyes, one would micturate upon the parched carbide,
usually with the flourish of ?Let there be light? for the benefit of
the decorous.

It wasn?t ?bees?, it was ?pees?.

Best

I agree, bees would be worse than useless in the acetlyine generator
of a carbide head light.   Neil