Are Bees a Blessing?

 

                                                         St. David blessing bees and a beehive

⁷ The law of the Lord is perfect,  reviving the soul;
the decrees of the Lord are sure, making wise the simple;
⁸ the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the Lord is clear, enlightening the eyes;
⁹ the fear of the Lord is pure, enduring for ever;
the ordinances of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.
¹⁰ More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey, and drippings of the honeycomb.

Psalm 19:7-10

Yesterday I wrote about World Bee Day in my Groundling blog, speaking about my pleasure at seeing the first bees, including bumble bees, this Spring. Bees are threatened in many parts of the world because of habitat loss and pesticides. There is a  movement to stop the war on dandelions because they are "Redbull for bees" as one researcher puts it, but it's hard to let them just grow when it invokes the ire of neighbours. Letting wildflowers, including dandelions, bloom means that our beleaguered pollinators have a chance.

Well, lo and behold, yesterday we drove past a new bee supply place near Port Hope called Dancing Bee. I was delighted by the coincidence, especially since I was once a very amateur beekeeper with a member of one of my congregations. Our hives produced a fair amount of honey and we didn't get stung all that often. When we gave it as gifts recipients acted as though we had flown around collecting the nectar. 

I also discovered later in the day that there is a patron saint of beekeeping, St. Ambrose. According to legend  a swarm of bees settled on the face of the infant Ambrose as he lay in his cradle, None stung him, but one left a drop of honey -- why are so many saint stories so freaky? This prompted his father to declare it was a sign that his son would become a sweet-tongued preacher of great significance.  He did eventually get the title “Honey Tongued Doctor” because of his speaking and preaching ability. 

It gets even better in the saint department. There is a stained glass window depicting St. David blessing a beehive. Why? Many monastic communities have cultivated bees through the centuries and I've visited Buckfast Abbey in Great Britain which is famous for its own bees, which are shared with others. 

Well, make of this what you will. I do hope we can interpret Jesus' encouragement to "love our neighbours as ourselves" to include bees, even if our human neighbours might not appreciated our outlook on the dandelions. 

https://groundlingearthyheavenly.blogspot.com/2021/05/celebrating-bees-today.html