A to Bee

Several articles about bee swarms captured my attention this week. I understand this is natural bee behavior in the spring and early summer, but I can't recall so many news items popping up at the same time about bee swarms.

Noteworthy? Maybe. Why? I dunno! Bees swarming the entrance to a Wall Street restaurant probably speaks for itself. Nature has a way of eventually turning the tables.

Thousands of bees swarmed the entrance to Cipriani's on Wall Street yesterday.

The New York City Police Department’s amateur beekeeper was called in to deal with the swarm.

Officer Anthony Planakis says the bees were likely looking for a new home.
He estimates the swarm had more than 12,000 bees.
Planakis collected them with a vacuum and says they will be taken to a hive his family keeps in Connecticut.

READ HERE



FOLLY BEACH -- John and Betty Davis were puttering around their house when they first spotted the buzzing black swarm heading toward them on a Saturday morning.

Thousands of honey bees suddenly dropped out of the sky and landed on the side deck of their East Huron Avenue home.

"I was brushing my teeth when they showed up," John Davis said, recalling the May 22 touchdown. "They landed right next to the door, and the whole area was just covered with this great, big pile of bees swirling around."

The couple watched, dumbfounded, as the bees moved toward their house and appeared to vanish beneath the siding. The pile grew smaller and smaller, until only few bees remained on the deck. The Davises assumed the rest had taken up residence in their walls.

READ HERE

NATICK — A West Natick resident got quite a shock Monday when she looked out her window and saw a hurricane of bees buzzing around her yard.

Bourrut estimated the swarm on the branch weighed about six pounds, which works out to 20,000 to 25,000 bees.

"It was a large swarm," Bourrut said. "I've seen a few larger ones, but most of them are smaller - about half the size."

Honey bees have been in decline in recent years, so Bourrut said it is important to make sure they have a home.

"I wouldn't say they are endangered, but they are certainly incredibly important to our food system," Bourrut said. "We should take care of them."

TAMPA - They were trained to wait for the fire hoses before confronting a swarm.
But when two Tampa Fire Rescue paramedics arrived at the home and saw a man writhing on the ground covered in bees, they knew they couldn't delay.

"The guy could see us," said Justin Thompson, one of the paramedics. "I couldn't imagine just sitting there waiting for backup."

Neither relished the idea of wading in among the swarm, but they swallowed their fear. "He had a look of desperation and he needed our help," said Sophia Cardenas, the other firefighter.
The pair donned their heavy "bunker" coats, covered their heads with fireproof hoods and went to get the 47-year-old.

They battled for about three minutes, using towels and the hoods to beat off the bees before reaching the safety of their vehicle.

The man, who was cutting the lawn at 1224 E. Park Circle at about 11 a.m., was stung more than 100 times.

READ HERE

In all fairness to the good bees, it's natural at this time of year for bees to "swarm."

So says Donald Lewis, Department of Entomology at Iowa State University:

Honey bees are valuable and provide tremendous benefits, specifically pollination, honey and wax. However there are times and places where honey bees create an annoyance and a nuisance, and for sting-sensitive individuals, a health threat. One such incidence is when honey bees swarm.

Swarming is a natural part of the development of a honey bee colony. Swarming is a method of propagation that occurs in response to crowding within the colony. Swarming is an advantage to the bees but is a distinct disadvantage for beekeepers. Consequently, beekeepers manage hives to reduce the incidence of swarming to the extent possible.

Swarming usually occurs in late spring and early summer and begins in the warmer hours of the day.

READ MORE HERE

BEES IN HISTORY:

MEROVINGIAN BEE

The Merovingians

The Merovingians ruled much of present-day France and Germany between the fifth and seventh centuries. The beginning of this time coincides with not only the Grail stories, but with the era of King Arthur, who was so central to many of these tales. There was never any question that the Merovingians were the rightful rulers of the Franks. They were not "created" as kings. The sons who were entitled became kings automatically on their twelfth birthdays. Their role was not to govern - that was left to the "Mayors of the Palace." They were simply expected to exist as representatives of the role, holding similar power and status to a twenty-first century constitutional monarch.

The Merovingians had a reputation for the occult and the supernatural. They were looked upon as priest-kings, much as the Egyptian pharaohs were regarded.


One of the abiding symbols of the Merovingians was the bee. Hundreds of pure gold bees were found in King Childeric's tomb. The custom endured through the centuries.


When Napoleon was crowned emperor in 1804, he made sure that golden bees were attached to his coronation robes. He was fascinated by the Merovingians and commissioned their genealogies to be compiled in order to find out whether the dynasty had survived after it had been deposed. These formed the basis of the genealogies found in the Priory of Sion documents.

MORE ON BEES:

"The beehive is found in Masonry as a reminder that in diligence and labor for a common good true happiness and prosperity are found. The bee is a symbol of wisdom, for as this tiny insect collects pollen from the flowers, so men may extract wisdom from the experiences of daily life. The bee is sacred to the goddess Venus and, according to mystics, it is one of several forms of life which came to the earth from the planet Venus millions of years ago. Wheat and bananas are said to be of similar origin. This is the reason why the origin of these three forms of life cannot be traced. The fact that bees are ruled by queens is one reason why this insect is considered a sacred feminine symbol. "





Did that say Masonry? Yes, I guess it did!

The bee-hive is an important symbol in the third degree, and it is extensively mentioned in the lecture where it is depicted as a symbol of industry, hence the work of the Lodge, so that Masons should continue to learn in all stages of life. Bees are able to accomplish large tasks because they cooperate in force, a single bee can do very little. This is in parallel to Masonry, where strength is gained by the active participation of all its members.

The bee is also the emblem of several Greco-Roman and Indian gods, including Cupid and Kama, both gods of love.

The Egyptians believed that bees were born from the tears of the Sun-god, Ra. Bees are also depicted on many ancient tombs, as symbols of the afterlife and resurrection. This probably came from the fact that bees do not leave their hive during the three month hibernation period, only to reappear later.

UTAH STATE SYMBOL

Utah is the beehive state. Rich in Mormon culture and history, Utah also cherishes the Sego Lily as its state flower:

Note the CENTER of the Sego Lily.

While the fleur-de-lis has appeared on countless European coats of arms and flags over the centuries, it is particularly associated with the French monarchy in a historical context, and continues to appear in the arms of the King of Spain and the Grand Duke of Luxembourg, members of the House of Bourbon. It remains an enduring symbol of France that appears on French postage stamps, although it has never been adopted officially by any of the French republics. In North America, the fleur-de-lis is often associated with areas formerly settled by France, such as Quebec, St. Louis, Louisville, the 152nd Fighter Squadron in Tucson, and Louisiana, and with French-speaking people in other Canadian provinces.

Fleurs-de-lis crossed the Atlantic along with Europeans going to the New World, especially with French settlers. Their presence on North American flags and coats of arms usually recalls the involvement of French settlers in the history of the town or region concerned, and in some cases the persisting presence there of a population descended from such settlers.
The fleur-de-lis appears on the Canadian coat of arms, the flags of Quebec[j] and Nova Scotia in Canada, and south of the border on that of Detroit (originally a French name, though at present pronounced quite differently), New Orleans, and elsewhere. The Acadiana[k] region and various cities in southern Louisiana, such as Lafayette, New Orleans and Baton Rouge, also use the fleur-de-lis.

It is also used in several places whose name came from one of the French King Louis: amongst them, the Flag of Louisville, Kentucky and of St. Louis, Missouri, where the three-petalled symbol also denotes the convergence of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers.

On 9 July 2008, Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal signed a bill into law making the fleur-de-lis an official symbol of the state.[21] Following Hurricane Katrina, the fleur-de-lis has been widely used in New Orleans as a symbol of grassroots support for New Orleans' recovery.[22]

The fleur-de-lis is the main element in the logo of most Scouting organizations, representing a major theme in Scouting: the outdoors and wilderness. The World Scout Emblem of the World Organization of the Scout Movement, has elements of which are used by most national Scout organizations. The symbol was chosen by Sir Robert Baden-Powell as it had been the arm-badge of those soldiers qualified as "Scouts" (reconnaissance specialists) when he served in the British Army. The classical description of this shape in Scouting literature connects the compass rose with the purpose of Scouting's principles—namely that Scouting gives one's life direction.

(You know, isn't that what the Mason's use in their bee quote? "Gives one's life direction" ? or something to that effect ...)

MORE BEE LORE:

In early traditions bees were believed to have originated in paradise and were known as "little servants of Gods". It was considered bad luck to kill one.

In Wales a bee buzzing around a sleeping child means the child will have a happy life and a virgin can always walk safely through a swarm of bees.

The Romans believed a swarm of bees was bad luck and that they were divine creatures which originated directly from the gods.

According to legend the first beekeeper was Bahus (god of wine), who domesticated them during his travels in Frakia.

Jupiter was said to have been fed and protected by bees when he was hidden in a grotto by his mother Rea, on Ida Mountain.

Bees are symbolic of sexuality, chastity, fertility, purity and care.

They are also considered to be an image of a human soul due to their natural ability to find their way home from great distances.

In ancient times it was believed that bees were attracted to the sounds of clanging metal and thus bees were associated with the love of music.

It has been estimated that fully 1/3 of our food sources would disappear if the honeybee were to become extinct.

However you view the bee, you can bee sure that its life is important to your own.

From the "Bee Movie" ... Barry B. Benson, voiced by Jerry Seinfeld, gives his Bee speech about the importance of bees, the general maligning of bees, and the stealing of bee honey for greedy profits.

Narrator: According to all known laws of aviation, there is no way a bee should be able to fly. It's wings are too small to get its fat little body off the ground. The bee, of course, flies anyway, because bees don't care what humans think is impossible.