Before September slips away, I wanted to be sure to acknowledge that it’s National Honey month. What better time to celebrate our beautiful bee friends?
All month I’ve been watching the industrious bees gather pollen and nectar in my garden, especially feasting off the goldenrod. And all month I’ve been thinking about bees and the gifts they give us and the relationship we’ve had with them for so many thousand years. Years ago I read a tale about how the tears of the Egyptian god Ra, when they hit the hot desert sand, turned into bees. And I’ve always been delighted by the tale that says that Kamadeva, the Hindu god of human love and desire, has a bowstring made from humming bees. Both those tales remind me that the bees are there through it all – the tears and the love.
I, of course talk to the bees. Although I don’t keep hives, it’s been a long time-honored tradition to keep the bees informed of what’s going on. Here’s a bit about the custom from the Raising Jane Journal.
Another beautiful example of bee and human collaboration are these fabulous artworks co-created by artist Aganetha Dyck and bees which can be seen here.
What to know more about bees? Isabella Rossellini put together some delightful sketches you can see here.
And there’s more to learn here in this article by artist Judith Shaw.
Artist Joyce Roetter did an incredible series of micrographs (photographs taken through a microscope) of bees. Check out the astonishing images.
Moving from the sublime to the adorable, Colette Bream creates knitted toys. I’m in love with this lambswool knitted bee.
In the manner of all good celebrations, I think we should indulge in some food don’t you? Don’t these honeycomb sugar cookies posted on A Beautiful Mess look both fun and delicious?
What about you? What’s the buzz where you’re at? What are you celebrating today? Have any bee stories to share? Are you a honey lover? Do tell – you know I love to hear.
Oh my, my! SAVE THE HONEYBEE! Great post, Deborah! And we have several honeybee keepers in our neck of the woods. Nothing better than local honey! Aloha
Yes, yes, yes to saving the honeybee Vicki! Local honey is the best for sure. It tastes sweet on the tongue and in the heart.
Hi Deborah – what a great post … lots of interesting snippets here – I’ve a bee post to do and will definitely link back. The thought of about “how the tears of the Egyptian god Ra, when they hit the hot desert sand, turned into bees” – is just brilliant – I love it. And the Kamedeva story .. fascinating – never heard of either of them – they bring bees to life.
Wonderful and for the links too … we are having lovely weather here and the insects are out in abundance – but autumn is coming … still the sunny days are blissful! Cheers and here’s to plenty of bee love. Hilary
Oh I can’t wait until you do your post Hilary – I know it will be wonderful. The Ra and Kamadeva stories are great aren’t they? I so love lore and creation tales! Here’s to the bees and all their fabulousness!
Our neighbors have purple sage bushes and the bees are all over them. We were discussing how delish sage honey would probably be.
Sage honey does sound wonderful! My purple Russian sage, which isn’t actually a sage, didn’t do very well this year so it wasn’t much of a bee magnet. I’m hoping it will recover next year.
There was a Japanese cartoon called “Maya the Bee” many years ago, based on a German children’s book series.
Here’s the American version of the theme song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlwueICyUxk
And the Australian version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHrRwZEUVS0
Oh how fun Scott – thanks for sharing these links!