2007

Is it my imagination or have you been strangely silent on the subject of the declining honeybee population? Is seems like almost everyone has ‘rang in’ on this one, and the information as usual has run the gamut of diversity. I don’t want to admit it, but in spite of all that has already been said I still feel unsatisfied. Pardon the pun, but as a long time reader of your column I have felt the honey sweetness of your words, as well as the sting of the bee now and then. Would you please comment on this subject?

Actually, my sentience, which expresses itself in a myriad of ways, only one of which is through this column, could not be more vocal on the subject. That being said, sometimes the loudest voice is the one found within the silence. By their very absence the bees have spoken, and continue to do so. Their offering to humanity is one of luxury, for their purpose is unequalled and their loss immeasurable. Who or what else could assume their endless labors on nature’s behalf or yield the results that they do on a daily basis? Their mystery has tantalized philosophers and poets, mathematicians and metaphysicians alike. By your own admission little is left that has not been summarized or theorized.

Honeybees are longtime residents of the earth and have been here far longer than humanity has. They have also existed elsewhere, particularly when humanity (or a version thereof) has also been present, including other planets within this solar system. How and why they arrive is at least as interesting a topic as why they depart. Perhaps you will find and follow the dimensional link as we explore their message.

Honeybees are as pure as the honey they produce. They are a dimensionally evolved species and have elevated and woven themselves throughout the kingdoms of nature and indeed within the web of life. Their society is a superior one and ideal in many ways. Symbolically, they represent the true disciple, working to perfect the whole, because the whole serves the many as well as the one. The disciple (worker) prepares honey (nectar), the most delectable and unique food, which is extracted from the flower (universe). If you observe honeybees long enough, they will teach you how to extract the honey from your own life, lifting your spirit and filling it with a perfume that is delicious and inebriating to all but the higher frequencies of life.

No other insect compares to the bee. They were not born of this earth any more than you were, and the mysteries they protect are no different than the ones that still elude you. Nature always offers a mirror, a reflection of itself, as if to mock the illusion that life is singular. Where the bee is concerned, nature has offered the wasp as its lower frequency counter-part or cousin. Wasps are capable of building wax cells, but they cannot make honey. Symbolically, they represent the unconscious side of man who takes but has not learned to give, the unawakened disciple who eats honey, but cannot prepare it. Wasps represent the illusion of selfishness, or those who serve the lower-self while the higher self goes hungry. Nature will continue to protect its secrets and mysteries until man removes the veils of misperception that obscure his vision.

Humanity fears the bee’s sting, but from the stinger flows a substance that keeps the honey pure under all circumstances. Without this unique ingredient the honey becomes affected, and subject to the variations and alterations of the lesser aspects of nature. Once altered, the honey is no longer appropriate for human consumption. It is true that once a bee has used its stinger its life is forfeit, yet if it cannot serve the whole (hive) by making pure honey then its life has no value, and to serve in a lesser capacity is to lessen the value of life.

Bees are perfect architects and builders. Tireless workers, they have a built-in compass that is based upon the magnetic grids of the earth. It is impossible for them to get lost although they are capable of faking disorientation if only to serve a higher purpose. Bees can recognize and identify subtle energies including disharmony and dishonesty. As their purpose is to make both hive and honey more perfect, they will rarely build a hive or remain in one that is in or near an unjust environment. They are also able to distinguish between peaceful and chaotic surroundings and can even detect vibrations of fear, which they detest. Many a bee sting is the simple result of the overwhelming and chaotic vibration of fear, aggravated by flailing arms and other human acrobatic attempts to flee a bee’s interest. Bees have an amazing attention span and such hopeless attempts are humorous to all but those who consider themselves at risk as potential victims.

Bees prefer symmetry in all things. They are insect scientists and are able to recognize quantity as well as quality. They can distinguish vast arrays of color, including pallets and hues barely visible by the human eye under any circumstance. The bees' ability to see such a wide gradient in color variations make them representatives of full spectrum light, the perfect prism that distributes light (love) equally through the beneficial forces of nature. These subtleties also make them the patron totem of the twice-born, or those who return from a journey somewhat changed by the paths they have chosen. The twice-born live as others do, but perhaps more simply and near the outskirts of where others choose to live, not because they fear becoming ensnared in their previous life, but because they choose to live otherwise.

Bess are the true alchemists of nature and no other creature great or small can protect or project knowledge as they do. They are nature’s child and wisdom’s offspring and their retreat is notable, particularly because man does not yet know how to prepare honey. Yet we see him as the wasp, over yonder in his neighbor’s field building fortresses of fear instead of symmetry and peace; enlarging the threat of its sting, and staking claims on simulated resources while nature continues to elude it. The wasp, caught in its own illusion cannot help but sting even those who come to free it.

As insect scientists, bees are instruments of nature, and as such they respond to the same invisible codes of evolution that you do. As humanity’s evolutional path quickens, that of every aspect of must also quicken. It would be a false path if it were otherwise, do you see? Humans have accustomed themselves to measure their growth by comparing themselves to something or someone else. In other words, by looking behind or into the past to see how far they have come. When looking into the past everything that was left behind appears to remain the same, because the speed of life (light) reflects a constant speed of change, displaying the change as new, or the next now. Because the new moment seems uniquely different from the last or past one, the contrast between the two is perceived as growth, or evolution. Confusing? Here is a simple example: Do you remember the last time you attended a school or family reunion? Did you feel as if you had taken an evolutional leap forward compared to those who attended the same gathering?

What does this have to do with the bees? Everything, because the pace of your evolutional cycle is linked to theirs and vice-versa. They are incapable of reflecting a false reality to you as that would be inconsistent with their model of striving for perfection, but if you continue to watch and study them, they will begin to show you a metamorphosis in how they live, and perhaps even offer a few solutions to some of humanity’s upcoming challenges. We have elucidated the irredeemable qualities of the bee and made it even more indispensable than ever, but we have not yet fully answered the question, what in the world is wrong with the bees and where are they going? Simply put, the internal alarm of the entire species has gone off and they are responding to nature’s call in droves.

Remember that we have said that they will work tirelessly toward the perfection of the whole, but if the whole (hive) can no longer be represented as perfect, then their purpose must lie elsewhere. That is why some bees become disoriented when they are near their hive and others altogether abandon it. If the hive is no longer consistent with their purpose, then either the hive or the purpose must change. Bees do not have individual personalities though each hive has unique characteristics of its own. Likewise, European bees are uniquely different than North American bees, and South American bees are different from Australian bees. Bees are not angry as they are incapable of such emotion, but they are disoriented and dissociated from their previous model. Their relationship to the hive is no longer based upon the same processes, or those that would be considered normal to humanity.

Each continent will see changes reflected in its bee population in a different manner. Most countries will eventually be affected; only some will be afflicted. North America will suffer higher losses because their number was higher to begin with and because the stress of evolution is more pronounced upon this continent. There have been very few normal hives for several decades. Boxed bees are crated and shipped along with everything else that moves along the world’s highways and byways. No longer a symbol of wisdom, the prosperity they offer seems reserved for those who control the crop they are to pollinate. We could number the burdens that humanity has foisted upon their species, but there would be no purpose in it, especially as they harbor no resentment; they are incapable of it.

Their stresses on the other hand, are no different than the ones you respond to daily. Neither are the parasites, pesticides and viruses that they are exposed to. Do you see? It falls to the species closest to the ones they serve not only to act as messengers, but also to lead the way towards change whenever possible. All of nature is but a reflection of itself. Humanity has many examples within nature to draw upon at present, it must now ask the best of itself to come forward in order to create the best of all possible futures. Humanity’s evolutional alarm clock has also sounded and soon even the least alert will need to open their eyes.

Where have the bees gone? Nature has directed the strongest among them toward the southern hemisphere. Guided by shifting magnetic grids, they are moving toward the equatorial regions and further south as well. These, less affected bees will gain strength from their new colonies and form evolutional allegiances with indigenous bees. They carry a new set of encoded instructions based upon a newer environmental blueprint. They will use this to create a new working model of nature in balance. Following a greater purpose they will build a better hive and be more productive in ways that will benefit humanity the most.

What will happen to the North American bees? Interestingly, bees from Oceania [Australia and New Zealand] are being imported to North America in great numbers in an attempt to stave off an abrupt end to an old model. Much of what will transpire next depends upon modern Apiarists, Farmers, Ranchers, and others who serve as an interface between the human kingdom and all of the others. Many who occupy these positions today have played similar roles before, at least as far as nature is concerned. They, perhaps far beyond others, understand that the old model cannot continue as it has. Those who work within the realms of nature, as protagonists or antagonists, are privy to both the laws and mysteries that govern it. Even those who manipulate these laws for personal or professional gain know that odds dictate that one day the pendulum will swing in the opposite direction. Humanity’s long ignorance of the laws of nature do not excuse it from the need to find solutions that will restore balance to nature and also feed a hungry world.

Restoring the health of the North American bee population will also aid in the restoration of the world’s health. Perhaps it has become obvious that woven within these words are examples that link changes in the bee model/purpose with current and upcoming changes within the human model/purpose. To be clear, the bees are not offering a warning; they are setting an example. They are refusing to take on additional stresses imposed upon them by an older model that no longer serves the whole. The lesser among them are succumbing to illness and malnourishment due to parasitic invaders. They are rejecting the chemical and artificial placebos that the old model would otherwise continue to impose upon them. They are changing how and where they live. They are moving, sometimes great distances, to place themselves in more healthful environments that will ensure the future of their species.

Given these irrevocable conditions, the world’s agriculture markets will shift and the economies they support will of necessity drift elsewhere. Old model agricultural practices will begin to shift, but more slowly than preference would dictate. In an effort to maintain its commercial position and in hopes of harnessing a hold on a continually diminishing bee population, cooperative enterprises will experiment with indoor agricultural practices. The great expense associated with this effort coupled with a shift in world economies will drive the price of many items significantly higher. On a positive note, there will be a more pronounced return to organic practices as its benefits become evident, especially where indoor agricultural practices are concerned. Other industries will obviously be impacted as the result of these changes plays forward, but these can be evaluated at another time.

The future of the world’s resources, including vitally important food and water, depends upon a cooperative world that is willing to serve and support its neighbors, as well as one that is willing to honor the strengths and weaknesses of each kingdom. Specific relevance must be paid to each species and the service they provide. Assisting and supporting one or more species must offset the extermination of an unwanted one. The continued manipulation of nature by those who pretend to own it cannot persist, neither can the equally detrimental pursuits of those who would destroy rather than protect the property of others because they do not agree with its current purpose. Feeding ignorance with cooperative brotherhood will seed the world with future generations who promote wellbeing in word and deed, models of a humanity that lives in peace and without fear. Without fear, listen and watch the message that the bees are modeling for you. Other species also have important messages for you, listen closely and they will make themselves known to you.

Copyright © 2007 Pepper Lewis, The Peaceful Planet