“We sing the glories of this pillar of fire, the brightness of which is not diminished even when its light is divided and borrowed. For it is fed by the melting wax which the bees, your servants, have made for the substance of this candle.”

– From The Exsultet, sung each year at the Great Vigil of Easter

“Go to the fields and gardens, and you shall learn it is the pleasure of the bee to gather honey of the flower. But it is also the pleasure of the flower to yield its honey to the bee.  For to the bee a flower is the fountain of life.  And to the flower a bee is a messenger of love.”

– Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet

Beloved of God,

“The bees, your servants…”  I love that line—and listen for it each time the Exsultet is sung during the Easter Vigil.  Truer words were never spoken, as I’ve been learning of late while reading two books that trace the natural history of bees: BUZZ: The Nature and Necessity of Bees, by Thor Hanson, and Bee Time: Lessons from the Hive, by Mark Wilson.

The first bees evolved from wasps about 125 million years ago—soon (in geologic time anyway) after flowering plants begin to appear.  These primordial bees made the transition from being predators to being gatherers of nectar and pollen from flowers—an innovation that initiated an explosion in the diversity and abundance of flowering plants and bee species, enhancing the survival of both.  This exchange between bees and flowers, as Wilson points out, is pretty basic:  Flowers provide sugar in nectar and protein in pollen; and bees transfer pollen from flower to flower as they collect the nectar, thereby fertilizing the flower. (Gibran, in the quote above, gives this utilitarian arrangement an eloquent touch.)

One delicious byproduct of this encounter—honey—has served as an important food source for human beings ever since our pre-human ancestors began walking upright on African soil.  In fact, recent studies of early human diets suggest that a significant source of calories, trace vitamins and minerals upon which our forebears depended for survival came from “hunting” honey—a practice that continues in many parts of the world today.  Over the eons, human beings have been fascinated by the complex cooperation that allows honey bee colonies to thrive.   Along the way we’ve discovered many uses for the byproducts of bees, including the beeswax from which the candles we use in worship are made.  Our Scriptures turn to bees to capture holy things and sacred promises: The psalmist enlists honey to help describe the treasure which is God’s word: “The ordinances of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey, and drippings of the honeycomb.” (Ps 19:8-10) And to extol the virtues of the Promised Land—“a land flowing with milk and honey.”

But the more than 20,000 species of bees in our world, with their wildly diverse patterns of living, have a role which goes far beyond satisfying the sweet tooth, extending the daylight, and embroidering literature. They are vitally important to human survival because of their pollinating role in agricultural and natural ecosystems.  Approximately one-third of all crops benefit from or are dependent on insect pollination—mostly by bees, a reality to which the vast majority of us, unless we’re farmers or orchardists, are oblivious.  When we bite into an apple or crunch down on a handful of almonds, the image of the humble bee likely doesn’t come to mind, nor a sigh of “thanks” escape our lips—but they should!

The collapse of honeybee colonies in recent decades (dubbed “colony collapse disorder” or CCD) along with the accelerating disappearance of less common bee species and the endangerment of others, has caught the world’s attention.  And that of our worship planning team.  This decline is not caused by a single factor but by a complex mix of factors, including the widespread use of insecticides and pesticides, disease outbreaks, and the reduction in the diversity and abundance of nectar- and pollen-producing flowers.   A crisis is afoot that portends massive implications for our world.  As we mark this month’s Season of Creation at Peace we’ll be learning more about bees and pollinators, and the role they play in our fields, gardens, and orchards.  All this in the service of revitalizing our God-given vocation as Earthkeepers.  Come learn with us from the bee how to be more faithful servants!