Solemnly Telling the Bees & Resurrection Hope

 

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 forever;
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

At the end of last week the line of those who wanted to pay their respects to the late Queen Elizabeth stretched to eight kilometres and eventually is was closed because the wait would be so long. Today hundreds of thousands of mourners, perhaps more than a million, will line the streets of London to say farewell on the day of the state funeral, the first in Britain since the one for Winston Churchill in 1965. 

We are aware that many are not mourning the death of the queen because the monarchy is for them a symbol of racism, colonialism, and oppression. 

For some reason I am intrigued by another response to the announcement of Queen Elizabeth's death last week which is getting a lot of media attention. The royal beekeeper (is this a full-time gig?) informed the monarch's hives of her demise. If this doesn't happen the bees get testy, which as a once upon a time beekeeper I know is not fun. 

According to [beekeeper] Chapple, to inform the honey bee hives of their new master, "you knock on each hive and say, 'The mistress is dead, but don't you go. Your master will be a good master to you.'"

This is carried out quietly and solemnly, as befitting any occasion where news of the death of a close friend or family member is delivered. Chapple finished the process by tying black ribbon bows around each hive of bees to signify the Periold of National Mourning  for Her Majesty, the Queen.

 Apparently this is not a ritual peculiar to the British royal family. This practice exists in a number of European countries and other places, and applies to just regular folk as well as the rich and royal. It may go back to an ancient Greek belief about the ability of bees to bridge this world and the afterlife. 

As odd as this seems I do appreciate the notion that grief and loss are not just human emotions, and that the queen's domain included other creatures, including her dogs and horses and, yes, bees. 

I've written about the ancient Christian symbolism of resurrection in bees and there are lots of references to bees and honey in scripture. Certainly in northern climes bees go into a period of relative dormancy in Winter and then emerge in Spring, often around the time of our Easter celebrations. Through the centuries Christian monks have kept bees and made significant advancement in apiculture. I've been to Buckfast Abbey in Britain which is famous for its hives and honey. 

Quixotic, yes, although maybe appropriate for a Sunday in the midst of Creation Time, and for a Queen who lived and died in personal resurrection hope.