Cultivating Our Bee-attitudes

On Valentine's Day back in February I learned that St Valentine is the patron saint of bees and  beekeepers.  That day we were travelling back home through the village of Tamworth, north of Napanee, and we passed by the bee operation of an interesting woman who retired from executive life in Toronto to work with this unusual and absolutely necessary livestock. I kept bees with a friend years ago and our son, Isaac, arranged for us to visit her last summer. We donned protective clothing to go on tour and the experience was quite enjoyable. 

Without bees we might starve because so many crops require them yet our indifference to them means bee species are suffering serious declines everywhere.  Bee hives are often brought into orchards to do their work of pollination before being buzzed off to the next site. For a time people were encouraged to keep backyard hives but experts now say this is not a good idea because honey bees are an introduced species which out-compete native bees, reducing biodiversity. We were also encouraged to let our dandelions grow as a nectar source for bees. Now we're informed that there are much better flowers for bees, including clover, because -- you guessed it -- dandelions are an introduced species. It can be challenge to keep up with the latest information, can't it? . What we know for certain is that bees of all finds are our friends, not our enemies. I delight in the bumblebees of our backyard.  

I like the notion of a patron saint for bees and other creatures for that matter. And that through the centuries monks have cultivated bees. My former bee-keeping friend still has several hives and the most sturdy and productive is populated by the Buckfast variety. Buckfast Abbey in Great Britain originated this strain and I've actually visited the monastery. 

While in Israel recently we visited the Church of the Beatitudes, even though we knew better from past experience. It is high on a hillside overlooking the Sea of Galilee, which should make it ideal for contemplation.  Unfortunately it is such a popular spot for tour groups, a human swarm that can feel quite chaotic, with nuns shushing noisy visitors. 

We were able to find a quiet spot to read the beatitudes or blessings in Matthew's gospel. As it happened it was Earth Day and as we walked a path back to our vehicle we passed a small fountain with a channel of water flowing down on each side. We realized that there were hundreds of honey bees hovering over these rivulets and landing for a drink. Just about everyone around us was oblivous to the bees but we stood and contemplated them for a few minutes, perfect for Earth Day. This was the greatest blessing of our time there and I've thought of those remarkable creatures often since our return. 

                                                     Bee Bowl -- Alexandra Raphael 1997