Hi Everyone,
I never thought I would be writing and sharing about... Bees! But, here I am.
On several occasions, their magical appearances in my life(bee visitations),
made their presence felt and made me wonder...
Why are they coming to me?
What are they trying to tell me?
I knew about bees' struggle(colony collapse disorder), and also was acutely aware that they are literally vanishing as I would see their little dead bodies so often on the ground. But what can I do? What's the significance of all of this?
I went on my search for clues and answers.
I read some articles, learned about Bee symbolism and meaning, watched couple of documentaries, researched some bee preservation projects, etc.
I've learned so many interesting facts about life of bees like, all the worker bees in the hive are female; there are up to 50,000 bees in the colony; bees are 100 more sensitive to smell than humans; about 1/3 of the world's food supply depends on bees pollination; bees do the "waggle dance" to tell other bees where exactly
the flowers are!! fascinating!
I've also learned some painful truths like, nearly 1/3 of U.S. honey bee colonies have disappeared because of extensive use of chemicals, artificial fertilizers, etc.; production of honey on industrial scale made possible by artificially breeding and inseminating the Queen bees; without bees we would not have fruits, coffee, coconuts, almonds, etc.
"If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe, then man would only have FOUR years of life left..."
, A. Einstein
Wow!
I've learned a lot, and yet, I didn't feel complete in my quest, I didn't find peace.
I felt there is something else. There is another piece to the puzzle!
And then, eureka! I found this book,
"Bees" by Rudolf Steiner
.
This is one of the most significant writings of the century on deeper truth and wisdom of these incredible Pollinators of Life!
I am deeply grateful for the persistent nudges of my little Bee-friends and to the great genius of Steiner for expanding my heart and my view of the reality. And I only hope that it will inspire and expand your heart as well, and you will find your creative ways of helping the Bees and yourself to restore the balance and
our relationship with Nature!
So, this is my tribute to these amazing teachers, gracious, humble-bumble BEES that do so much for LIFE on planet Earth!
"The Bee is more honored than other animals, not because she labors, but because she labors for others",
- St. John Chrysostom
BEE Inspired...
"That which we experience within ourselves only at a time when our hearts develop love is actually the very same thing that is present as a substance in the entire beehive. The whole beehive is permeated with life based on love",
- Rudolf Steiner
From the book of lectures "Bees" by R. Steiner:
"...in the bee-hive there is a very special and remarkable life. This cannot be fully explained without the faculty of spiritual perception. The life of the hive is extraordinarily wisely organized. Influences that are coming from the whole surrounding universe work with immense power in the bee-hive. Indeed, one can only arrive at a right understanding of what the life of the bees truly is, when one takes into account that the
whole environment of the earth has a very great influence upon the life of the colony.
This life within the hive rests upon the fact that
the bees
, to a much greater extent than the ants and wasps,
work so completely together,
so arranging their whole activity that
everything is in harmony.
Love belongs to the realm of the soul;
Life of love connected to the planet Venus.
The bees surrender themselves entirely to Venus, unfolding a life of love throughout the whole hive. This life will be filled with wisdom; you can well imagine how
wise it must be!
This unconscious wisdom is unfolded by the bees in their external activity. The whole hive is in reality permeated with love. The individual bees renounce love in manifold ways, and thus develop love throughout the whole hive. One only begins to understand the life of the bees when one knows that the bee lives in an atmosphere completely pervaded by love.
Hence one must say that the life of the bees must be studied by making use of the soul.
The life of this sprouting, budding love is there within the honey too. You can also study what honey does, when you eat it yourself. What does the honey do? When honey is eaten it furthers the right connection in man between the airy and the watery elements. Nothing is better for man than to add the right proportion of honey to his food. In the honey the bee gives back again to man what he needs to further the activity of his soul-forces within his body. Thus when man adds some honey to his food, he wishes so to prepare his soul that it may work rightly within his body — breathe rightly.
Bee-keeping is therefore something that greatly helps to advance our civilization, for it makes men strong.
You see, when one realizes that the bees receive very many influences from the starry worlds, one sees also how they can pass on to man what is fitted for him. All that is living, when it is rightly combined, works rightly together. When one stands before a hive of bees one should say quite solemnly to oneself:
“By way of the bee-hive the whole Cosmos enters man and makes him strong and able”...
BEE Here NOW, and BEE Jolly!
Happy Holy-days!
With LOVE and Gratitude to YOU and our little friends BEES,
Dr. Tatiana
