According to an article in the Scientific American (April 25, 2014), honey bees arrived on the scene about 130 million years ago, having evolved from wasps at a time when “The vast supercontinent of Gondwana was beginning to break up, with South America drifting off to the west of Africa, and Australia moving majestically off to the east. Antarctica decided to head south…”
Fast forward to humanity entering the scene. Honey bees buzzed their way into the culture of civilizations as symbols of:
- -the sun, community & celebration: Druids.
- -royalty and power: Egyptians.
- -the attributes of Christ: Christians.
- -Mother Goddess, representing mutual support and fertility: Minoans.
- -Aristaeus, god of bee-keeping: Greeks.
- -immortality and resurrection: Merovingian royalty.
They were the Italian Renaissance sculptor Bernini’s symbol, and, in general, a symbol for industry, hard work and dedication.
Because of that hard work and dedication, honey bee communities have often served as a model for human society. They appear on the seal of the Massachusetts Historical Society (MHS), which “features a beehive with several honeybees buzzing around it.” (MassHist.org)
The inscription reads “sic Vos Non Vobis” which translates roughly to “you work, but not for yourselves.” It was chosen in 1833 to represent the mission of the MHS.
Of course, the main attraction of honey bees is what they produce: honey.
TO GET THE HONEY YOU GOTTA KEEP THE BEES
Instructive articles about raising bees in Cambridge can be found as early as 1847 in the Cambridge Chronicle. Here is a startling idea—bees rob one another (who knew?)
There was the advice to add salt to their diet:
And in 1850, E. W. Stewart was advertising his newly patented “improvement in the rearing and feeding of Bees, for the production of honey.”
The article goes on: “…the food comprises a compound from which the bees will feed very eagerly, and in preference to any flower or artificial food ever before discovered: and sometimes in a single day the value of ten swarms has produced a hundred lbs. of honey, which readily brings the highest price in any market making it a source of very great profit to anyone who should keep bees enough to make a business of it. The honey is the best flavored and is as white and clear as any ever beheld….”
Here’s a comment about women’s suitability as bee keepers that would hardly fly today:
While E. W. Stewart extolled the profitability of raising bees in 1850 (above), by 1918 keepers were being admonished that standard “box hives” were definitely not profitable.
AND NOW TO THE MAIN EVENT: THE HONEY
Honey became a part of cuisine as soon as humans discovered it. It is believed that mead, which is made with wine and honey, may have been the “first alcoholic beverage known to man.” Greeks and Romans referred to it as “the nectar of the Gods.” In mid nineteenth century, buying honey in the comb seemed to be Cantabridgians’ favorite way to obtain the delectable nectar:
“Extracted honey,” which was less sought-after, came predominantly from California as in this advert of 1890, and mentioned in the following article.
Philip Seymour Crichton, an accountant and émigré from Canada, was keeping bees at his home on Hammond St. near the Harvard Divinity School. The article mentions the general preference for honey on the comb rather than extracted honey from California:
PRACTICAL AND MEDICAL USES OF HONEY
Honey wasn’t just for sweetening food and drink. It was also used as a main ingredient in toothpastes:
For treating burns:
And as an ingredient in soaps:
HONEY AND WAR
Honey bees just fly around doing their business, oblivious to the fact that their efforts played a part in supporting the war effort in both WWI and WWII, when citizens were exhorted to save sugar by substituting honey:
World War II
FUN BEE FACTS
BEES IN 2021
“Commercial honey bee operations are essential to agricultural production in the U.S., pollinating $15 billion worth of food crops each year. Honey bee colonies are moved around the country to pollinate important agricultural crops such as almonds, blueberries, and apples. Minimizing their losses and ensuring the health of both commercial and backyard colonies is critical to food production and supply.” (BeeCulture.com)
Alarmingly, these days honey bees are in decline. According to the annual survey by the Bee Informed Partnership (BIP) “beekeepers across the United States lost 45.5% of their managed honey bee colonies from April 2020 to April 2021.” (Auburn University Jun 24, 2021.)
Some bees abandon their hives for no apparent reason, a condition called Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). It is speculated that a combination of pesticides, limited space, inadequate food supply, parasites or a virus targeting bees’ immune systems may be the cause. Fortunately, this has led to an uptick in interest in beekeeping.
Today’s post was written by CHC volunteer Kathleen Fox
SOURCES
Bee Symbolism. History of HoneyBees. (n.d.). https://historyofbees.weebly.com/bee-symbolism.html.
Cambridge Online Newspapers Database
Clifford, G. C. (2021, August 4). Bee symbolism & meaning (+Totem, spirit & OMENS). World Birds. https://www.worldbirds.org/bee-symbolism/.
Goulson, D. (2014, April 25). The Beguiling History of Bees [excerpt]. Scientific American. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-beguiling-history-of-bees-excerpt/.
Woods, J. (2021, June 25). US beekeepers continue to report high colony loss rates, no clear progression toward improvement. The Newsroom. https://ocm.auburn.edu/newsroom/news_articles/2021/06/241121-honey-bee-annual-loss-survey-results.php.
