Apis Mellifera, the European honeybee, is one of nature's mystical and marvellous creatures.
Here we explore this most magical of creatures and its longstanding history of exploitation by mankind. Including little known facts, some recipes using honey, a bit of myth and some lore, this page is dedicated to the matriarchal society and its Great Mother, the Queen, whose role is paramount within the community.
In a meadow of clover, the air is sweet on a warm July morning. The clover is alive with a thousand bees industriously gathering nectar and pollen to take back to the hive. Clover is in full blossom at this time of the season and the bees are harvesting like only a bee can.
The pedigree of the Honey does not concern the bee - A clover, anytime, to him, is aristocracy
(Emily Dickinson)
Einstein predicted that the human species would be four years behind the bee if it disappeared. This decline of the bee is cause for concern for us all. What many people don't realise is that approximately 80% of all pollination is from insects. The bee's contribution to agriculture is hugely overlooked; consider how much rapeseed we see each year and the actual yield if pollination decreases.
For those of us that enjoy honey, perhaps the healthiest sweetening agent, we must expect the cost to increase as the honeybee becomes more valuable. Will we simply turn our back on the humble bee and investigate artifical pollination techniques (a little late).
Buying local honey is a great way to support the bee population. Guaranteed you have a bee keeper within your local area. In addition, local honey has long been believed to relieve hayfever as much of the pollen from plants in the locale are will be contained in traces within the honey.
The honey bee, Apis Mellifera, has been a symbol of veneration and wonder since earliest man. Many occult schools, including masonry utilise the symbol of the honey bee which sometimes represents connections with the otherworlds in much European folklore. Indeed, early cave drawings depict naked men collecting honey from bees and the image of the bee has been used to portray many of the Gods, such as Diana-Artemis famously connected with wondrous temple at Ephesus.
This is part of an article published in White Dragon, Samhain 2007. For a backcopy, please visit White Dragon.