Ode to the Honey Bee: A Look at the History of Bees, Honey and Humans BY MICHELE D. BAKER It’s an iconic summer image: from a clear blue sky, a brilliant beam of hot sunshine flashes briefly on a golden honey bee buzzing its way across the backyard. The heady scent of roses in full bloom floats upon the air as she stops briefly to forage in the hollow of a crimson Knockout, burrowing deep into the rich and fragrant petals to reach the nectar at the center. The patch of snow-white daylilies in the sideyard is next, and the bee emerges, her body glistening with thousands of tiny pollen crystals. She visits a few more blossoms, gathering nectar and leaving behind pollen, before resuming her journey home to the hive, where tens of thousands of her sisters—and a few brothers—await her return with buzzing anticipation. ANCIENT CONNECTIONS Since ancient times, humans and honey bees have existed in sweet harmony. For at least 4,500 years, Egyptian beekeepers have made hives out of clay or mud pipes stacked in pyramids. These hives were regularly moved, allowing the bees to pollinate whatever flowers were in season. Special rafts moved the hives up and down the river, so the bees traveled the whole length of Egypt. (This tradition continues into the present day.) Honey was important to all socioeconomic classes and in almost every aspect of life in ancient Egypt, indicating that it must have been produced on a large scale. Honey was used for everything from sweetening food to dressing wounds to paying taxes. A marriage contract has been found which states, “I take thee to wife... and promise to deliver yearly twelve jars of honey.” It was also exacted as a tribute—jars of honey were paid each year by conquered Syrian tribesmen to Pharaoh Thothmes II, according to PlanetBee.org. Honey also took center stage in religious life. The bee was a symbol of royalty, and the bee hieroglyph was a symbol of the pharaoh of lower Egypt. During a ceremony known as the “Opening of the Mouth,” priests placed honey into the mouth of a statue of a god—or the king or other great noble. Egyptians may have even believed that the soul of a man—his “Ka,” the part which continues after death—took the form of a bee. The Book of “Am-Tuat” (“the Otherworld”) compares the voices of souls to the hum of bees. An ancient creation myth contained in the Salt Magical Papyrus says that bees were created from the tears of the Sun 26 • August/September 2022
god Ra, creator of the earth and the sea: “When Ra weeps again, the water which flows from his eyes upon the ground turns into working bees. They work in flowers and trees of every kind, and wax and honey come into being.” CELEBRATED IN WORD AND SONG The enduring human-bee relationship has also been a popular metaphor for artists throughout time. The Bible describes a good and spacious land as “flowing with milk and honey” and describes a man who knows right from wrong as one who, “will eat curds and honey.” Proverbs 16:24 says, “gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.” Honey is celebrated as a “gold standard” in song as well. Johnny Cash drawls, “I will bring you honey from the bee tree in the meadow,” (“Cause I Love You”), and Van Morrison says of his woman, “She’s as sweet as Tupelo honey” (“Tupelo Honey”). The Beatles also chose to compare a lover’s kiss to the
