The Wonder of Bees
For some time,
we have had resident honeybees in the roof of our chapel here in Kilmacud. Last
week we decided the time had come to have them re-housed by a professional beekeeper
in order that the colony would not grow too large. It was a painstaking and
difficult job, but the colony was successfully removed and is now settled for
the winter in a proper apiary. The beekeeper told us that he estimates there
were 70,000 bees in our large chapel-roof community! We marvelled at a piece of
the comb he left with us, explaining how the bees when building their home leave
exactly 8mm to move around between each piece of comb, and this was evident in
our roof, even without man-made frames for them to build on! Such architectural
skill from tiny creatures is awesome and inspiring; and they have no worries
about pyrite or mica or aerated concrete because they can make all their own
building materials from their own bodies!
In the
days following the bee removal, before the roof was repaired, many foraging bees
and wasps came inside our chapel, attracted by the smell of honey. They found
themselves trapped inside and buzzed against the windows for hours before becoming
exhausted. Sometimes the noise of buzzing was so loud it felt like we were living
inside a beehive, and I could hear the noise in my head everywhere in the house
and even in bed at night! I wondered what I could learn from these poor
disorientated bees that could benefit my distracted prayer in the chapel these
days? Then it came to me… there are many, many people in our world today who
are lost and trapped and trying to find an external or interior freedom. Each
poor bee buzzing on the window could represent one of these suffering people. As
the buzzing noise was so clear to me, I prayed that it would also be clearly heard
by God and that He would bring relief and peace to those in our world who need
it most.
There is
so much we can learn from bees, and how they organise their colony and
communicate with each other. They each have assigned roles and each one is
dedicated to the survival and safety of the whole community. They provide us
with delicious honey and high-quality wax. Bees are so special that they are specifically
mentioned at the most solemn moment of the greatest Church Liturgy of the year,
i.e., the singing of the “Exsultet” after the blessing of the new Easter Candle.
Yes, even the humble bees are acknowledged for their work in providing the wax
for this candle, as we sing:
“O holy Father, accept this candle, a solemn offering, the work of bees and
of your servants’ hands…”
We thank
and praise God for all we have learned and can ponder about bees during this “Season
of Creation”.
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