Plato’s doctrine of the transmigration of souls holds that the souls of sober quiet people, untinctured by philosophy come to life as bees. Later than Plato comes Mahomet, who admitted bees, as souls, to paradise; and Porphyry said of fountains; “They are adapted to the nymphs, or those souls which the Ancients call bees.” From: [...]
Archive for January, 2008
Bees as Souls
Posted in Bee Lore, Beetwixt & Beetween on January 20, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Heaving Up the Coffin and the Hive
Posted in Bee Lore, Beekeeping, Beetwixt & Beetween on January 20, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
There is a tradition that when a beekeeper dies, then on the day of the funeral, as the funeral party is preparing to leave the house, the hive and coffin are both “heaved” or lifted at the same moment.
The Bee and the Dream
Posted in Bee Lore, Beetwixt & Beetween on January 20, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
There is a strange story told in My School and Schoolmasters which goes as follows: A friend and I lay on a mossy bank on a hot day. Overcome by the heat my friend fell asleep. As I watching drowsily, I saw a bee issue from the mouth of my sleeping friend, jump down to [...]
Aphrodite and her Melissae in Ancient Greece
Posted in Bee Lore, Bee-ology, Beetwixt & Beetween on January 20, 2008 | 13 Comments »
At the temple of Aphrodite at Eryx, priestesses were called “melissae”, which means “bees,” and Aphrodite herself was called Melissa, the queen bee. At the Ephesian temple of Artemis, the melissae were accompanied by transgendered priests called “essenes”, meaning drones. Bees are classified as members of the hymenopteran order, meaning “veil-winged,” recalling the hymen or [...]
Mention of the Bee in the Koran
Posted in Bee Lore, Bee Present, Bee-ology, Beekeeping, Beetwixt & Beetween on January 19, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
And the Lord taught the Bee to build its cells in hills, in trees, and in men’s habitats; then to eat of all the produce and find with the skill the precious paths of its Lord: there issues from within their bodies a drink of varying colours, wherein is healing for men; verily this is a [...]
Murmuring of Innumerable Bees
Posted in Bee Lore, Bee Present, Beetwixt & Beetween on January 19, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
So waste not thou; but come; for all the vales Await thee; azure pillars of the hearth Arise to thee; the children call, and I Thy shepherd pipe, and sweet is every sound, Sweeter thy voice, but every sound is sweet; Myriads of rivulets hurrying thro’ the lawn, The moan of doves in immemorial elms, [...]
Where the Bee Sucks
Posted in Bee Lore, Bee Present, Beetwixt & Beetween on January 19, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Where the bee sucks, there suck I; In a cowslip’s bell I lie; There I couch when owls do cry. On the bat’s back I do fly After summer merrily. Merrily, merrily shall I live now Under the blossom that hangs on the bough. Henry Fuseli: Ariel From: The Tempest, which was William [...]
A Bee Story
Posted in Bee Lore, Beetwixt & Beetween on January 18, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
(Author Unknown) Once upon a time the animals had a school. They had four subjects: running, climbing, flying, and swimming- and all animals took all subjects. The duck was good at swimming, better than the teachers in fact. He made passing grades in running and flying, but he was almost hopeless in climbing. So they [...]
“Tell it to the Bees”
Posted in Bee Lore, Bee Present, Beetwixt & Beetween on January 18, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Bees are symbols of communication. The saying ‘tell it to the bees’ meant using bees to transmit wishes and desires out to God/dess. Bees work in complete cooperation, communicating with each other so that their hive remains intact and productive. Bees in a dream may indicate a need for communication either with a group or [...]
Picture of a Medieval Apiary
Posted in Bee Lore, Beekeeping on January 17, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Here is a rather beautiful plate of a medieval apiary from the Tacuinum Sanitatis - a medieval handbook on wellness. From: http://www.answers.com/topic/beekeeping-1?cat=technology More on TS at: http://www.moleiro.com/infoplus.php?p=TAS/en
