Just a reminder, the Honey Bee is the official Insect of the State of Georgia. This designation was given in 1975. I remember my dad had several Honey Bee hives on the farm when I was a young boy. Those pure white bee domiciles were lined on the edge of a field in an abandoned roadway. It was as if the colony had its own avenue.
According to the US Department of Agriculture is the A. mellifera, the most common domesticated Honey Bee. Sometimes called the Eastern Honey Bee, it finds a cozy home among us. The Honey Bee is one of the most proliferate pollinators, making giving them great status among farmers, gardeners and, well, honey-lovers. When they feel threatened, in an act of defense a bee stings. If the threat increases other Worker Bees join in the fray. When a Worker Bee stings, its stinger embeds into the flesh, continuing to deposit venom, while the stinger breaks off—and the bee dies.
A bunch of years ago, i owned a hive of bees—for about two hours. I was visiting a friend as he was disposing the household of our mutual buddy, who had deceased. He said, “I just don’t know what to do about Jim’s Honey Bees! I don’t know anyone to give them to.” Faded childhood memories flashed in from the Honey Bees of my childhood, I said—without giving it any thought—I’ll take them. When I got home I told Paige I was now the proud owner of a hive of Honey Bees. She looked at me with that “Paige look,” and said, “You know what bee stings do to me, don’t you?!” —which ended my bee keeping career.
Honey Bees and honey were here before human beings. According to The Honey Association–-Exactly how long honey has been in existence is hard to say because it has been around since as far back as we can record. Cave paintings in Spain from 7000 BC show the earliest records of beekeeping, however, fossils of honey bees date back about 150 million years! Honey and Honey Bee references populate our songs, stories, folklore, and lessons. In 1957, Jimmie Rodgers had a hit with a witty Country & Western song, weaving in the creation of the world, Honey Bees, and a girl he called called Honeycomb.
There are more than five dozen mentions of honey in the Bible. That is enough to verify the longevity of honey. Many of these references to honey have to do with the Promised Land described as “…flowing with milk and honey…” Merriam-Webster says it means a place where there is plenty of food and money and life is very easy. Many immigrants thought that America was a land of milk and honey. Some of the other biblical references have to do with food, or gifts; The Psalmist raises the judgments of God above the sweetness of the honeycomb; almost all of the references indicate joie de vivre—that’s my choice. Thank God—and the Honey Bees for Honey.
©Copyright Willis H. Moore 2024
I bet Paige did give you a 🥺. Bees are very interesting little creatures made by God.