Bees
I have wanted a hive of bees for sooo long now. This was going to be the year, but when we decided to sell the place and move I knew that this wouldn't be the year. With the move and having to figure out how everything will be set up around the new property, its not likely I'll get my bee hive next year either. It may have to wait another year. Bummer.
Either way, someday I will have a bee hive!
The idea of having my own honey & pollen, watching the bees work, is something I've wanted for quite a while. So, as with everything I decide I want to do, I've been doing some studying off & on about the world of beekeeping, and of course their magickal attributes blessing our lives is also a great benefit!
Bees:
Attributes: Chastity, Communication, Community, Creativity,
Defensiveness, Diligence, Dreams, Fertility, Gathering, Ideas expressed,
Immortality, Industriousness, Luck, Messages, Messengers between the worlds,
Mortality, Obedience, Obsessiveness, Order, Organizer, Productivity, Purity,
Re-birth, Royalty, Secret wisdom, Self-control,
Self-sufficient, Soul, Success, Visions, Wealth, Wisdom
Deities: Ah Muzencab, Aphrodite, Callisto, Cybele, Grandmother
Twyla, Melissa, Mellonia, Native American totem, Neith, St. Ambrose, St. John
of Chrysostom, Ra, Usins, Venus
Bumble Bees: Drive, Honesty, Pure thinking, Willingness
******
Bees and Old Wives Tales
By Carole Anne Somerville
Bees are believed to have originated in Paradise and they are
traditionally known as the "little servants of God" or "divine
messengers." The belief, in ancient times, was that they had knowledge
of the future and of all secrets. It is often still felt to be very
unlucky to kill one.
Country people and beekeepers take their
relationship with the bees very seriously. To prosper, bees need love
and harmony around them. Should the beekeeper's family be contentious
and full of anger, the bees will suffer illness and die, or they will
fly away. Beekeepers in the past would communicate regularly with the
bees; some visiting the bee hives each evening to tell of the day's
events. It was particularly important to inform the bees of a death in
the family.
Should a beekeeper die, it was up to the eldest son
or widow of the owner to convey this news to the bees and they had to do
this properly and promptly. If they did not hit each of the hives with
the door key while telling the bees that the master was dead, it was
believed they would fly away or die.
Even how bees are obtained
was subject to old customs and superstition. They should not, for
instance, be bought. Any bees that were purchased would either die or
fly away. So how did beekeepers acquire their bees? They might barter
goods in exchange for the bees. Or they may have borrowed a stock of
bees to start their own swarm with the promise of returning the bees to
the rightful owner should they ever demand it.
There remains
many superstitions regarding bees. If a bee lands on a person's hand,
this suggests money is on its way. If a bee lands on someone's head,
they will be successful in life. Good luck or the arrival of a stranger
should be expected should a bee fly into the home. The bee of course
should never be killed but can be encouraged to fly out of an open
window.
A bride should inform the bees of her marriage otherwise
they will leave the hive and not return. It is also customary to leave a
piece of bridal or funeral cake for the bees to feed on. The familiar
humming of the bees was felt to be a hymn of praise.
The Cornish
would never move bees without warning them first otherwise they will
sting the beekeeper. This is not all bad, however, because the bee's
sting is said to be a good cure for rheumatism!
******
A Few Bee Poems
The Bee
by: Arthur Guiterman (1871-1943)
Little
chemic-artisan,
Doing work
no other can,
Deep in dewy
nectaries,
Petal-walled
refectories--
Apple-blossom,
columbine,
Rose and
lily, all are thine,
Yet, though
oft thy weight they bear,
Dost thou
know how they are fair?
Thine are
sun and Summer breeze--
Hast thou
aught of joy in these?
Pollen-yellow
dumbledore,
Leave thy
clovers tumbled o'er!
What's a
lily? What's a rose?
Down the
golden lane he goes,
Drowsing
forth a prosy song,
"Honey!
Honey!" all day long,
Wasting
life's diviner sweet,
Hiving food
for drones to eat.
Oh, thou
silly, silly bee!
Idle here
and learn of me!
***
The Bee
by: Emily
Dickinson (1830-1886)
Like trains
of cars on tracks of plush
I hear the
level bee:
A jar across
the flowers goes,
Their velvet
masonry
Withstands
until the sweet assault
Their
chivalry consumes,
While he,
victorious, tilts away
To vanquish
other blooms.
His feet are
shod with gauze,
His helmet
is of gold;
His breast,
a single onyx
With
chrysoprase, inlaid.
His labor is
a chant,
His idleness
a tune;
Oh, for a
bee's experience
Of clovers
and of noon!
***
The Bee
by: Andrew
Downing
The music of
the busy bee
Is drowsy,
and it comforts me;
But, ah!
'tis quite another thing,
When that
same bee concludes to sting!
***
The
Beekeeper
Author:
Unknown
There was a
man who loved the bees,
He always
was their friend,
He sat
around upon their hives,
But they
stung him in the end.
***
A Swarm
Author:
Unknown
A swarm of
bees in May
Is worth a
load of hay!
A swarm of
bees in June
Is worth a
silver spoon!
But a swarm
in July
Is not worth
a fly!
******
The Future of Bees:
There has been quite a bit of speculation regarding the cause of the extreme decline in the bee populations around the world. Some say cell phones, some say pollution in general, and then there are those who express great concern regarding the use of pesticides and its effects on the bees. There have been studies regarding each of these possible problems, but the one that feel is the most plausible is the latter: pesticides.
The following link is to an article posted on Facebook. It is well worth the read! For anyone who uses pesticides on their yards & gardens, please consider otherwise. There are organic methods that work just as well and don't have the detrimental side-effects (on humans, animals, plants OR insects!)
Please read this article and pass it along to others.
***All graphics in this post are from the article linked above.
Love the wife's tales of the bees and all the folklore that comes with the bees. I currently have five hives. Three years ago, I bought ( a big oops apparently) three hives. I am having ups and downs with the bees--but it is all a learning curve. I treat them with great respect, and I let them do what they do--I try not to interfere. They have been doing their thing for eons. I 'raise' them naturally--no antibiotics or chemicals. Were we live, we are not exposed to chemical farming, and we do not use or believe in the use of chemicals. I am now up to five hives.
ReplyDeleteI hope one day you may acquire a bee hive or two.
LOL I think the "buying" thing is definitely something we, today, have to overlook! I'm just not into trying to find a hive to collect. I envy you having your hives. I'm still hoping to have a couple, but we live in the middle of crop fields, and they do spread their insecticides and fertilizers, both via air and those long motorized contraptions that spray directly onto the field. I have seen bees pollinating my garden (the plants that would actually grow!), but as for where they house themselves, I haven't seen anything close to a hive anywhere - "wild" or in someone's yard/field.
ReplyDeleteI am still optimistic though, that I will eventually get to try my hand at beekeeping. :)
Blessings!