Each morning I share my coffee with the multitude of bees that frequent my garden. The rosemary is in bloom now, and the bee song is an audible humming of B flat while they gather the pollen onto their back legs.
We have identified 7 types of bees on our ranch. I think they are all wild bees because there are no commercial hives for many miles, and these bees start early. They work hard all day, they have extraordinary sex lives, are devoted to the family of bees that form their specific hive, and they know the importance of good real estate. Honeybees produce one of nature’s most miraculous offerings: honey. The history of honey is ancient, mythological and so very tasty and useful. It has been used as an offering to the gods, it is a preservative, and honey has curative properties found in ancient texts.
Honeybees are found all over the globe and their existence is documented in cave paintings! They were fossilized before man evolved. There would be very little for man to eat without the diligent efforts of the bees. The bee characteristic that is most astounding to me is their hive democracy. Each bee has a distinct role in the functioning of the hive. The bees communicate with each other by the sound of their wings and the waggle of their bodies. When a hive has a decision to make, like a move to another location, they elect a group of scouts to do the research. When the scouts return to the hive, they communicate their findings to the entire hive and the bees take a vote before they move. Sometime a hive needs a new queen, and the hive population will elect for some to stay with the old queen and others to establish a new hive.
Imagine if humans could make important decisions with a song and a dance?
In place photos:
