Bee Lore

Humanity has always had a close relationship with bees, whose honey has have been a food staple since before the dawn of civilization. As a symbol, the bees’ lifestyle mimics that of the human social order- a cooperative, productive social hierarchy.

 In fact, beekeeping is one of the earliest markers of civilized society – bees provided many of the necessities of advancement, providing not only food, but wax for metalworking, cosmetics, and medicines, as well as the ever-important pollinization of fruit trees and other food crops.

From: http://altreligion.about.com/library/glossary/symbols/bldefsbee.htm