by Natalie Zaman
Have you ever been “as busy as a bee?” Is your home a “hive” of activity? Have you ever felt like a drone? Or a tireless queen? Assigning animal traits to human behavior is a conceit humans have practiced since we’ve had the power of language. We’ve “been as the bee” for millennia.
Bees have been feeding, curing, and lighting our lives with their honey and comb for at least 7,000 years if Spanish cave paintings of Stone Age apiarists are to be believed. On top of this, a bond of a divine nature also exists. Carvings in Aegean tombs show bees escorting departed souls to the underworld. Aphrodite’s handmaidens, her “Melissas” (whose name literally translates to “honeybee”), used the bee as their personal emblem. And it is speculated that the original beehive hairdo can be found on the Venus of Willendorf—her rigid “cap” might just be a beehive. Many cultures have connected man to bee, but at some point guardian, nymph, and Mother Goddess melted into obscurity as the practical was sundered from the spiritual. Bees were kept for produce, and prayer was taken out of the apiary. Perhaps, at last, it is time to return to the old ways.
In recent years, a disturbing phenomenon has decimated the world’s bee population: Colony Collapse Disorder. Worker bees abandon their hives, leaving their queen and drones behind to perish. Scattered and alone, they die as well. No one knows exactly why this is happening, though parasites and pesticides have been named as potential causes, so as of now there is no solution. Scientific studies have also theorized that if the bee population disappears—specifically honeybees and bumblebees, the species’ chief pollinators—the human race will inevitably follow.
The time is right for us to renew our connection to the blessed bee—in both the spiritual and the mundane. Use ritual to bring the magical qualities of these marvelous creatures into your life. By adding a bit of practical craft, perhaps we can help restore the bee to its proper and needed place in the spiral dance. In helping the bees, we help ourselves.
Drone, Worker, Queen
Crafting Gratitude Beeswax Candles
Bumblebees and honeybees are very different creatures, but the order of their communities is similar. Workers go out, collect pollen, and produce honey; drones mate with the queen, who lays eggs. This structure ensures that each bee has a role to play, ensuring the continued survival of the colony.
Unlike bees, we humans assume many roles throughout our lives and often, we get to choose which parts and when we play them. There are times when being a “worker bee”—having a specific job to do—is comforting. A niche-purpose allows a person to focus on the task at hand, unfettered and free of the distraction of outside ambitions. Conversely, being the source of creation, the center of everything, can be exhilarating—though that position often comes with great responsibility. There are times when any role can weigh heavily. A bee blessing can help with this challenge.
To imbibe the energy of the Queen Bee and her Court, craft candles of beeswax infused with honey and amber to aid with vitality and endurance. Burn one of these candles to encourage you to work to your best potential. And as positive change begins and ends with gratitude, express thanks—for the support of others, for your abilities, and for the opportunity of the experience.
You will need:
Sheets of honeycomb-pressed beeswax. These can be purchased at a craft store, but you can try to buy beeswax and related products from a local apiary. Doing this supports a local business while also assisting with bee preservation. Beeswax sheets come in different lengths, thicknesses, and colors. Height and breadth do not matter—make your candles in sizes that please you, but do use beeswax in its natural, undyed state (Use dyed wax when making candles for specific intentions).
Candle wicks
Amber chips or small tumbled stones. Amber’s golden color is reminiscent of honey and its qualities of vitality and endurance add vital life-force energy to this spellwork.
Honey (again, locally produced if possible)
Hair dryer
To make the candle, unroll a sheet of beeswax so that it lays flat on your workspace.
Place a candle wick at one end of the sheet so that the end of the wick lines up with the edge of what will be the bottom of the candle. The opposite end of the wick should extend past the other edge of the wax sheet. Press the wick into the wax with your finger to secure it in place.
Next, fit the amber chips into random cells of the beeswax. As you place each piece, visualize the life force contained in the amber becoming a part of the candle.
Drip three drops of honey into three different cells: one near the wick, one in the middle of the sheet, and one near the bottom. With each drop, picture the honey’s healing and nourishing qualities melting into the wax. Now you’re ready to roll.
Being careful to keep the top and bottom of the candle even, and starting at the wick end, roll up the beeswax sheet with a tight hand. (When you’re finished, the wick should be in the center of the candle.) As the candle forms, say this mantra aloud or to yourself:
Sweetness and light,
Be in all that I do,
And in all that I be.
Finish rolling up the candle, then use a hair dryer to soften the wax of the exposed edge. (You can also hold the candle horizontally at a safe distance over a heat source such as a lit candle). Press the edge down to seal it. If the wax is stubborn and unravels, secure it by tying it with a piece of yarn or ribbon until it is time to light it.
Burn a Queen Bee and Court candle when you find yourself unhappy with a task you must complete, feel overburdened with responsibility, or need a reminder of all of the positive aspects of your life. Repeat the mantra each time you light the candle.
When all of the beeswax is melted away, release the amber chips or stones into nature, repeating the mantra one last time, and end with a statement of gratitude:
Thank you, Blessed Bee!
The Hive
Build a Bee Spirit House
For a bee colony, hive is home. And while you probably don’t want a single bee, let alone a colony in your home, you can welcome them in spirit (and invite some live bees into your neighborhood) with a little help from some Eastern philosophy.
Wander through the streets of Thailand and you’re sure to see a Spirit House—a shrine in miniature made of wood, metal, or stone and decorated with mirror mosaics and precious gems. These tiny temples are temporary dwellings for transient spirits wandering the earth. The house and offerings left inside and around it are meant to encourage those who have passed on to stop for a while and bestow blessings of good fortune.
Solitary bees, victims of Colony Collapse Disorder, or travelers looking for food to bring back to the their colonies (honeybees can travel hundreds of miles to gather pollen) have a better chance of survival if they can find temporary shelter. Welcome bees in body and spirit by crafting and dedicating a Hive Spirit House—a fitting tribute for this former escort of departed souls. You will need:
Sandpaper
A piece of wood (be sure to use untreated lumber) approximately 4 inches wide by 4 inches deep, and 18 to 24 inches long (This will become the foundation of the house. )
A drill with different sized bits
Two 6-inch-square, flat pieces of wood (also untreated) to form a triangular, pitched roof (Note: You can use a larger piece of wood for the foundation. Just be sure to make a roof that is proportionately larger because you want overhanging eaves.)
Hot glue gun
Broken bits of mirror, plates, and/or chips or tumbled stones (Use onyx for protection, amber for vitality and health, and jade or malachite for safe journeys—all blessings traveling bees need.)
Hook and weatherproof cord for hanging
While you are making your Hive Spirit House, keep your purpose in mind—to attract the bee spirit and bring its energy to your life and offer live bees protection.
Before you begin construction, sand down all the wood. This will help prevent splinters. Additionally, any embellishments you add will adhere better to a rough surface.
Next, prepare the foundation by drilling holes into one side of the long piece of wood, being careful not to pass the drill completely through it. Vary the size of the holes; what constitutes a snug, “just-right” hole will differ from bee to bee.
Assemble the roof before attaching it to the foundation. This part of the Hive Spirit House is not merely decorative; it will protect future occupants from predators, sun, and inclement weather. Line up the two flat pieces of wood edge to edge so that they form a triangle. Fix the pieces together with a few drops of hot glue.
Center the roof over the foundation and attach it with more hot glue.
Decorate the roof and sides of the Hive Spirit House using the tiles and stones. To add to your intentions, make symbolic patterns such as pentacles, spiral patterns, goddesses, or even the shape of the bee itself. Attach the embellishments to the wood with hot glue. Do not varnish, treat, or water-seal the house; you don’t want anything to seep into the wood and affect the bees staying there.
Attach a hook to the back of the house (be careful not to interfere with the holes in the front) and use the cord to hang it up.
Where you put your Hive Spirit House is important. Do not place it in a shared living space like the common area of an apartment complex—you don’t want the bees to sting anyone, and you never know who might have an allergy. Install the Hive Spirit House at a little distance from your home—a tree or post in the corner of a yard where it’s likely to catch the morning sun is a good place. Call to the spirit of the bees when you are ready to hang their new home:
We were bound together long ago,
Let it once again be so.
This message to the bees I send:
Welcome, golden, winged friends.
A last and essential element of the Spirit House is a daily offering. For bees, nothing is better than flowers and water. Leave a shallow dish of water near your Hive Spirit House, or if you can, place the house near a water source like a pond or stream. Like all living creatures, it is important for bees to keep hydrated. Dysentery is a common ailment that plagues many apiaries.
Do some research to find out which plants are attractive and beneficial to bees in your area. Plan your garden to bloom continuously—some plants bloom only in the spring, some in the fall, and others throughout the summer. Leave the flowers in place until they are brown (naturally, as you should avoid using herbicides and pesticides), then prune them to allow as much access to the blooms as possible. Do NOT include any yellow plants or other decorations. Aggressive species such as yellow jackets and ground bees are attracted to the color yellow.
A constant and colorful food supply planted around your Hive Spirit House, in the ground or in pots, will encourage pollination and honey production. Such a garden will also attract butterflies and hummingbirds when the weather is right.
The Swarm Is Normal
The “Change Is Good” Ritual
A swarm of bees. Those four words can conjure up a frightening image: a dense, black droning cloud bent on destruction. However, nothing could be farther from the truth. Swarming occurs when a newly created queen bee leaves her hive, taking enough drones and worker bees with her to start a new colony. This expansion and diversification, which bees do instinctually when a queen reaches middle age, ensures survival. Beekeepers try to rein in this instinct to maintain order and regulate honey production, but it can’t always be prevented. Nature finds a way.
Sometimes, change is inevitable—and while it can be uncomfortable, it is necessary for growth and evolution, and this is just as true for humans as it is for bees. Revive our ancient connection to the bee and ease into change by “becoming the bee” in a ritual that can be done almost anywhere, and requires only your own breath and a few flowers.
Instructions: Go out into nature where you will be able to collect wildflowers (or use hothouse flowers if you are doing the ritual at a time of year when wildflowers are not available). Try to select plants that visibly have pollen on them.
Find a quiet place—where you can be alone if possible—and think about the impending change coming your way. Perhaps you’re in the midst of it. Are you afraid? Exhilarated? Examine your feelings. Speak out loud about them if you can. Take as much time as you need to vent them out.
Shake the pollen from the flowers into your palm or hold the flowers out in front of you. Speak this mantra aloud or to yourself:
The time has come
For me to swarm.
Change is coming,
And not to my harm.
I let go of care.
I fly on the wind.
I’m ready to begin again!
So mote it bee!
When you finish speaking, take a deep breath and blow the pollen out into the air. Picture your anxiety and fear about the change floating away with the tiny particles. As they disappear, feel your fear transforming back into pure energy, an increasing, brightening light. When all negative association is gone, visualize the light stretching out in all directions—you are the bee, pollinating positivity so that it will spread and grow.
Use this ritual to help you get through challenging changes. Even if the change is something you’re excited about, perform this ritual to center and ground, creating an aura of peace and contentment, a quiet before the swarm.
There is an abundance of websites and books and shops that promote the benefits of bee products: beeswax as a moisturizer, royal jelly as a super food, and countless recipes that blend honey with herbs and spices to create healing elixirs. There seems to be no malady that honey can’t cure, or at least help ease the symptoms.
Before you use bee-based remedies, always seek professional medical advice. In addition to any potential effects and side effects of bee products, it is important to know if you have any allergies (also essential if you keep a bee box near your home). Be especially careful with children under three, the elderly, and anyone who has a compromised immune system. (Raw honey contains different bacteria that could prove dangerous to certain people.)
If you have the time and inclination, you may consider keeping bees. Print and electronic resources on this topic are abundant—and a good place to start. However, before you acquire your own swarm, think about volunteering and apprenticing for a master apiarist. Hands-on experience and the passing of knowledge from one person to another is a bee-utiful thing.
May your bee-blessings abound!