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beekeeper's song
telling the bees
He is not worthy of the honeycomb
That shuns the hive because the bees have stings. —William Shakespeare
who will go and tell my honey bees when i am gone
for i have no earthly friends, except my bees alone
i have never known by lesson that they carry stings
for they only cool my troubles with their healing wings
legends say hives know of marriages and deaths and births
tales of ancient egypt, river nile, and celtic mirth
midnight hums on christmas day i cannot speak about
for such myths survive not in the fire of Christian doubt
lores from mystic climes my colonies cannot recount
tho ‘tis heaven’s grace alone that fills their surple fount
law and order is the custom of their rulership
kingdom choked with mating drones, workers with dancing hips
fertile ‘lizabethan queen refusing no advance
lest a lapse where duty calls should alter circumstance
pollinate while sun is hot, make hay while daylight shines
who can own the future, only now is truly mine
symbiotic symmetry my bees and me unite
red for them means no alarm, their stings give me no fright
but i have no earthly friends, except for these alone
who will go and tell my honey bees when i am gone
© Copyright 2019 December 13
by Clyve A. Bowen♫
He is not worthy of the honeycomb
That shuns the hive because the bees have stings. —William Shakespeare
who will go and tell my honey bees when i am gone
for i have no earthly friends, except my bees alone
i have never known by lesson that they carry stings
for they only cool my troubles with their healing wings
legends say hives know of marriages and deaths and births
tales of ancient egypt, river nile, and celtic mirth
midnight hums on christmas day i cannot speak about
for such myths survive not in the fire of Christian doubt
lores from mystic climes my colonies cannot recount
tho ‘tis heaven’s grace alone that fills their surple fount
law and order is the custom of their rulership
kingdom choked with mating drones, workers with dancing hips
fertile ‘lizabethan queen refusing no advance
lest a lapse where duty calls should alter circumstance
pollinate while sun is hot, make hay while daylight shines
who can own the future, only now is truly mine
symbiotic symmetry my bees and me unite
red for them means no alarm, their stings give me no fright
but i have no earthly friends, except for these alone
who will go and tell my honey bees when i am gone
© Copyright 2019 December 13
by Clyve A. Bowen♫
Published 13th Dec 2019
| Edited 15th Dec 2019
Author's Note
For centuries, beekeepers across Europe have kept the ancient tradition of honeybees being messengers through "telling the bees." The death of the beekeeper required the new beekeepers to introduce themselves formally as their new owner and ask for their acceptance as their new master/mistress. Not doing this would encourage the bees to desert the hive or the colony to stop producing honey or even die. It is a tradition that that new beekeepers continue today.
All writing remains the property of the author. Don't use it for any purpose without their permission.
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13th Dec 2019 6:32pm
Goosebumps.
We keep bees.
Or, rather, they feral, grace our boxes and bless us on the odd year with a sweet gratuity for our sheltering fences.
We keep bees.
Or, rather, they feral, grace our boxes and bless us on the odd year with a sweet gratuity for our sheltering fences.
Thank you, EW.
I understand the goosebumps; when I was a small boy, my family had bees at home, too. We got them by a wild chance: a hive had swarmed and was lodging in a nearby tree. My brother-in-law enticed the bees into a box (obviously, the queen was there). After a few months, we had about 5 boxes (hives), from which we reaped many harvests of honey over the succeeding years.
Writing about them was like going back into early memories.
I am grateful for the RL addition.
Sincerely
cab
I understand the goosebumps; when I was a small boy, my family had bees at home, too. We got them by a wild chance: a hive had swarmed and was lodging in a nearby tree. My brother-in-law enticed the bees into a box (obviously, the queen was there). After a few months, we had about 5 boxes (hives), from which we reaped many harvests of honey over the succeeding years.
Writing about them was like going back into early memories.
I am grateful for the RL addition.
Sincerely
cab
13th Dec 2019 7:59pm
This was beautifully written. The bees may not notice when we are gone but we will definitely notice when they are.
16th Dec 2019 4:50am
Thanks, BabydoII, for stopping by and making much of my bee awareness.
True word about who notices what! We notice, because we are the losers in this game.
Sincerely
cab
True word about who notices what! We notice, because we are the losers in this game.
Sincerely
cab
18th Dec 2019 5:18am
What a beautiful and educational write.
I am intrigued and will have to look up more on this tradition! Neat!
Did you know that bees are haplodiploidy? Males only have half of the number of chromosomes as the females. This is genius because if a Queen bee does not have a drone to fertilize her eggs she will lay unfertilized eggs that will develop into drones, who can then fertilize a new generation of bees. ONE single female.
I just think that is the coolest thing!
I am intrigued and will have to look up more on this tradition! Neat!
Did you know that bees are haplodiploidy? Males only have half of the number of chromosomes as the females. This is genius because if a Queen bee does not have a drone to fertilize her eggs she will lay unfertilized eggs that will develop into drones, who can then fertilize a new generation of bees. ONE single female.
I just think that is the coolest thing!
Thank you for scribbling eloquently on my page, PS!
Bees, butterflies, and ants are among the most amazing creatures on this earth. I've studied all three families, just for the sheer pleasure of their intricate character and lifestyles.
Scout bees use a compass point indicator to show workers where they have found food, doing the waggle dance to mark the location. Worker bees work themselves to death -- till their wings thin away and they can fly no more. Then there are "police drones" that push these "useless" ones out of the hive.
I did not know the chromosome bit, but I am aware that only one female can occupy the hive and that all other females mutate into drones until a new queen is needed. Appreciate the share.
One ant fact for you: all the ants in the world weigh more than all the people in the world! Did you know of that?
I really thank you for taking this encounter to another level sharing interesting insights. The RL add is like icing on the accolade cake.
Yours sincerely
cab
Bees, butterflies, and ants are among the most amazing creatures on this earth. I've studied all three families, just for the sheer pleasure of their intricate character and lifestyles.
Scout bees use a compass point indicator to show workers where they have found food, doing the waggle dance to mark the location. Worker bees work themselves to death -- till their wings thin away and they can fly no more. Then there are "police drones" that push these "useless" ones out of the hive.
I did not know the chromosome bit, but I am aware that only one female can occupy the hive and that all other females mutate into drones until a new queen is needed. Appreciate the share.
One ant fact for you: all the ants in the world weigh more than all the people in the world! Did you know of that?
I really thank you for taking this encounter to another level sharing interesting insights. The RL add is like icing on the accolade cake.
Yours sincerely
cab
20th Dec 2019 11:27am
😄
You're so welcome!
I haven't studied much on insects, specifically, in academics but they always find their way into the topics I have studied. They are fascinating in their own right, for sure. ❤
I think it is really neat that much of our understanding, about our own biology, has come from studying insects, like drosophila melanogaster (fruit fly).
Female workers differ from males, genetically, and can sometimes lay eggs to make drones. All workers will always be, genetically, female because you can't systematically mutate half of your DNA away.
I think it is great that you have a fascination with insects and nature! I wish everyone was like that! 🙂
I've watched a few documentaries on ants, they are beautifully complex yet somehow "simple". I have heard that they would weigh as much as humans, collectively, how cool is that!?
You're so welcome!
I haven't studied much on insects, specifically, in academics but they always find their way into the topics I have studied. They are fascinating in their own right, for sure. ❤
I think it is really neat that much of our understanding, about our own biology, has come from studying insects, like drosophila melanogaster (fruit fly).
Female workers differ from males, genetically, and can sometimes lay eggs to make drones. All workers will always be, genetically, female because you can't systematically mutate half of your DNA away.
I think it is great that you have a fascination with insects and nature! I wish everyone was like that! 🙂
I've watched a few documentaries on ants, they are beautifully complex yet somehow "simple". I have heard that they would weigh as much as humans, collectively, how cool is that!?
22nd Dec 2019 1:17am
Your knowledge serves you well!
Thanks for making this an interestingly informative conversation.
You can now take a look into the butterfly cycle. As former Vice-President Education of my toastmasters club, I programmed our meetings after the butterfly theme for an entire quarter, cycling through ovum-larva-pupa-adult.
The most interesting phenomenon was that you could not help an emerging butterfly to fly. The creature has to fight by its own might to get blood flowing to the extremities of its wings; if you assist it to open its wings, you cripple it or life.
Sincerely
cab
Thanks for making this an interestingly informative conversation.
You can now take a look into the butterfly cycle. As former Vice-President Education of my toastmasters club, I programmed our meetings after the butterfly theme for an entire quarter, cycling through ovum-larva-pupa-adult.
The most interesting phenomenon was that you could not help an emerging butterfly to fly. The creature has to fight by its own might to get blood flowing to the extremities of its wings; if you assist it to open its wings, you cripple it or life.
Sincerely
cab
