The Song of the Bee

Bee Tray, Michelle Snyder

Bee keeping is ancient: depicted on a wall in Spain is an image dated to 15,000 BC of a human collecting honey; in Egypt an image of a bee keeper dates to 1300 BC. Bee symbolism was associated with kings until the discovery that the king-bee was a queen, after which bees became linked to the Great Goddess, representing communal and mutual support, as well as fertility. A beehive displays an industrious gathering of workers, who toil with seemingly endless energy. Honey is sweet yet beneficial. It is a healer of wounds, and is thought to be ambrosia, the food of gods. Bees are associated with priestesses, prophets, poets, and philosophers: the spiritual associations with bees link them to purity, inspiration, eloquence, and intellect. One legend tells of bees alighting on the lips of babes, granting gifts of eloquence and poetry to Pindar, Plato, Sappho, and St. Ambrose. Plato declares that the souls of the dead are resurrected as bees; in Germany the Path of the Bees refers to the “wind” that carries the souls of the dead. In Greek mythology bees are connected to Zeus, who was born in a cave sacred to bees and was nourished by honey. The Great Mother was also known as the Queen Bee; at Eleusis and Ephesus her priestesses were called “bees.” It is reasonable to conclude that the bee was later used as a cryptic symbol for those who still worshipped the Great Goddess during the time when the Church suppressed such ideas. Charlemagne had bees embroidered on his royal robes, and the beehive is an image found in Masonic symbolism. Folklore from many countries involves bees. European and Chinese Faerie tales tell of bees helping young men find the right bride. To the Celts the bee represents secret wisdom from the otherworld, and they refresh themselves with honey-sweetened wine. In Ireland bees produce the honey from which mead (the drink of immortality) is made, and are protected by law. Because bees disappear for three months of winter only to reappear in spring, they have become a symbol of resurrection, and an attribute of the Hindu gods; a blue bee on the forehead indicates Krishna, a bee on a lotus: Vishnu, a bee over a triangle: Shiva. Christianity considers that bees embody a spark of divine intelligence, imparting symbolic property to the buzz, or song, of the bees. The bee’s honey and song represent Christ’s sweetness and pain, mercy and judgment. The bee symbolizes the Christian, the hive represents the Church. Bees are associated with cleanliness, perhaps because they feed on fragrant flowers. Bees are disciplined, and they collectively ensure the survival of their species, and thus symbolize the survival of the human soul. An individual bee symbolizes the quickening power between heaven and earth. Carved on tombs, bees signify immortality. The next time you observe a bee hovering over a delicate flower, remember that they produce the food of the gods, and listen for the buzzing song as you run away.