The oldest pictures of bee-keepers in action are from the Old Kingdom of Ancient Egypt. In Niuserre’s sun temple bee-keepers are blowing smoke into hives as they are removing the honey-combs. After extracting the honey from the combs it was strained and poured into earthen jars which were then sealed. Honey treated in this manner [...]
Archive for February, 2008
Beekeeping in Ancient Egypt
Posted in Bee Lore, Beekeeping on February 23, 2008 | 11 Comments »
Cupid stung by a Bee!
Posted in Bee Lore, Beetwixt & Beetween on February 19, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Cranach painted the first version of Cupid Complaining to Venus in 1527; in subsequent years, he and his workshop produced at least twenty-five versions of the theme, a fine example of which is now in the National Gallery. A Dürer watercolour of 1514, to which Cranach’s paintings are unrelated, is the earliest known visual [...]
Melchizedek’s Three Gifts from Venus
Posted in Bee Lore, Beetwixt & Beetween on February 19, 2008 | 6 Comments »
Occult tradition states that the mysterious figure Melchizedek, who is mentioned in the Bible in connection with giving communion to the patriarch Abraham, is an entity that brought three gifts to earth from the planet Venus: the bee, wheat, and the mineral asbestos. The tradition is an allegorical one. The meaning of the three gifts [...]
From the “Book of the Bee”
Posted in Bee Law, Bee Lore, Beetwixt & Beetween on February 19, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
“We have called this book the ‘Book of the Bee,’ because we have gathered of the blossoms of the two Testaments and of the flowers of the holy Books, and have placed them therein for thy benefit. As the common bee with gauzy wings flies about, and flutters over and lights upon flowers of various [...]
Successful Surgery Performed using Beetles and Honey!
Posted in Bee Lore, Bee Present, Bee-ology, Beetwixt & Beetween on February 19, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
During the construction of the Panama Canal, a Dr. W.E. Auginbaugh described an operation he witnessed. A native Indian surgeon performed this surgery while chain smoking in a filthy environment. He sutured the injury by setting beetles on the open wound. The beetles snapped their mandibles shut and sealed it acting like staples. The Doctor [...]
Twin Horsemen of Surya Rob Honey from Celestial Bees!
Posted in Bee Lore, Beetwixt & Beetween on February 19, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
In Hindu mythology, Surya represents the Sun god. Surya is depicted as a red man with three eyes and four arms, riding in a chariot drawn by seven mares. Surya holds water lilies with two of his hands. With his third hand he encourages his worshipers whom he blesses with his fourth hand. In India, Surya [...]
The World is a Beehive!
Posted in Bee Lore, Beekeeping, Beetwixt & Beetween on February 19, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Similarly to the mythologies of other Finno-Ugric peoples, in Mordvin mythology the world has three levels: the upper world or the heaven (mdE&M Menel’), the middle world or the earth (mdE&M Moda), rimmed with the ocean, and the lower world or the underworld – the domain of coldness and darkness. In the Moksha tradition there [...]
The Bee God chkai
Posted in Bee Lore, Beetwixt & Beetween on February 19, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Myth has it that the Mordvinian Ugro Finns had a chief God, chkai, a bisexual king bee responsible for creating the human race. These people believed that humans came from bees, they envisioned the earth as a beehive, ruled by the bee God chkai who laid eggs from which all bees and creating goddesses were [...]
Bonny Bee Nursery Rhyme
Posted in Bee Lore, Beetwixt & Beetween on February 19, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Bless you, bless you, bonny bee: Say, when will your wedding be? If it be tomorrow day, Take your wings and fly away. From: http://www.rhymes.org.uk/a10-bless-you.htm
Top Bar Hives
Posted in Bee Lore, Bee Present, Beekeeping on February 17, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
I have just been browsing the internet and have come across an intriguing hive – called a Top Bar Hive. It is much cheaper to build than a National or Langstroth and the keeping of these hives is probably much more similar to the methods that ancient beekeepers would have used. Honey is not extracted [...]