"How doth the little busy bee improve each shining hour, and gather honey all the day from every opening flower."
~Isaac Watts
"Well, said Pooh, "what I like best," and then he had to stop and think. Because although Eating Honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you began to eat it which was better than when you were, but he didn't know what it was called."
~A.A. Milne, Winnie the Pooh
I'm with Pooh—just thinking about honey, picturing this glorious golden nectar, simply anticipating the rich sweet taste—Mmm Mmm, almost, but not quite, better than the actual experience of eating it! I love honey drizzled on buttered toast or biscuits; honey in my tea; honey-ginger glaze on grilled salmon; or simply a spoon full of honey right out of the jar—"honey in the morning, honey in the evening, honey at supper time."
Did you know that there are more than 300 different kinds of honey produced in the United States? And what really amazes me is the process of its creation. I read somewhere that the 60,000 or so bees in a beehive may collectively travel as much as 55,000 miles and visit more than 2,000,000 flowers to gather enough nectar to make a pound of honey. What amazing little creatures honeybees are. Honeycombs are wonders of efficiency in structural design: somehow honeybees figured out that in creating a lattice of cells with a hexagonal structure, the least amount of wax is used to hold the most honey. Pretty smart, those bees!
I personally have an allergy to bee stings, so I can't believe I'm celebrating bees...however I do have a deep appreciation for their presence in the world. They pollinate the flowers, and they provide us with this wonderful golden elixir without which life would not be as sweet. And they provide us with beeswax for candles, and the wonder food product bee pollen—filled with vitamins, minerals, protein, and folic acid—that many people testify has miraculous healing properties.
Honey has long been a symbol of richness and sweetness in spiritual traditions, a symbol for abundance and God's blessings. The Bible describes the Promised Land as flowing with milk and honey; in Greek mythology honey is the drink of the Gods of Olympus; and according to the Koran, "Honey is the first blessing that God gave the earth."
Today I am in gratitude and appreciation for the blessings that nature bestows upon us in the form of this sweet nectar, and the honeybees that make it possible—and I am wishing for you, dear reader, all the sweetness that life has to offer.
Did you know that there are more than 300 different kinds of honey produced in the United States? And what really amazes me is the process of its creation. I read somewhere that the 60,000 or so bees in a beehive may collectively travel as much as 55,000 miles and visit more than 2,000,000 flowers to gather enough nectar to make a pound of honey. What amazing little creatures honeybees are. Honeycombs are wonders of efficiency in structural design: somehow honeybees figured out that in creating a lattice of cells with a hexagonal structure, the least amount of wax is used to hold the most honey. Pretty smart, those bees!
I personally have an allergy to bee stings, so I can't believe I'm celebrating bees...however I do have a deep appreciation for their presence in the world. They pollinate the flowers, and they provide us with this wonderful golden elixir without which life would not be as sweet. And they provide us with beeswax for candles, and the wonder food product bee pollen—filled with vitamins, minerals, protein, and folic acid—that many people testify has miraculous healing properties.
Honey has long been a symbol of richness and sweetness in spiritual traditions, a symbol for abundance and God's blessings. The Bible describes the Promised Land as flowing with milk and honey; in Greek mythology honey is the drink of the Gods of Olympus; and according to the Koran, "Honey is the first blessing that God gave the earth."
Today I am in gratitude and appreciation for the blessings that nature bestows upon us in the form of this sweet nectar, and the honeybees that make it possible—and I am wishing for you, dear reader, all the sweetness that life has to offer.
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