BEE

By, Ted Andrews; Animal Speak 1993

Keynote: Fertility and the Honey of Life

Bees have been mythical symbols throughout the world. In Hinduism, depending upon how depicted, the bee could relate to Vishnu, Krishna or even Kama, the god of love. In Egypt it denoted royalty. In Greece, it was used in the symbology of the Eleusinian Mysteries, and the Celts associated it with hidden wisdom. Probably the most significant and consistent symbolism is that of sexuality and fertility, due primarily to its stinger and its part in pollination.

Bees are also long-time symbols for accomplishing the impossible. For many years, scientists were unable to determine how bees were able to fly. Aerodynamically, the body was too large for the wings. It has only been in more recent times that science has determined that bees move their wings at such a high rate of speed that it makes flight possible. Still, it remains to many as a symbol of accomplishing quests that appeared tobe impossible.

All bees are essentially "honey bees". They gather and pollinate. Bees are often considered the busiest and most useful of insects. Without them no flowers and many fruits would never blossom. It occurs through the pollination. As the bees land upon one flower, collecting its nectar, pollen also attaches itself to the leg fibers. It is then transferred to other flowers, creating a fertilization process.

Pollination is just one productive process the bee participates in. It also furnishes food, i.e. honey, and it also preys on other insects, helping to keep the insect population in balance. Bees that build their homes in the ground help turn over the soil, often much better than the earthworm itself.

If a bee has shown up in your life, examine your own productivity. Are you doing all you can to make your life more fertile? Are you busy enough? Are you taking time to savor the honey of your endeabors or are you being a workaholic? Are you attempting to do too much? Are you keeping your desires in check so they can be more productive? Are you taking time to enjoy the labors and activities you involve yourself in? Bees help remind us that activities are more productive and sweeter if we take time to enjoy them.

The legs of bees are one of their most sensitive organs. A bee actually tastes through its legs. It is able to determine if there is nectar in the flower it lands upon.

The stinger is often seen as a phallic symbol. Most bees only sting once. There is a barb attached to the end of the stinger, which pulls the stinger off when used. The queen can sting more than once, but it only fights when another queen is born.

Most bees have organized communities. This is most evident in the bumblebee family. There are the queen, the drones and the workers. The first brood the queen lays become workers, and they take over the building and maintenance of the nest. Bees, like ants, are excellent builders. The honeycombs are constructed in a six-sided shape, called a hexagon. This geometric shape has had long mystical significance associated with it. It is a symbol of the heart and the sweetness of life found within our own hearts. It is a symbol of the sun and all the energies associated with it.

The bee is the reminder to extract the honey of life and to make our lives fertile while the sun shines. The bee reminds us that no matter how great the dream there is the promise of fulfillment if we pursue it. The elixir of life is as sweet as honey, and the bee is a symbol that promises us that the opportunity to drink of it is ours if we pursue our dreams.