April 25, 2014
“And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.” (Genesis 9:16 )
This bee story is a real true story, written by the person who had a very
special encounter and brief relationship with a needy bee. The main points
are that she understood the bee, reached out to help the bee’s needs, and
the bee responded by taking good advantage of her kind care, and was so much
better off for it!
But, first, I want to offer you some insightful (to me) precious writings by
J. Allen Boone, who authored Kinship With All Life.
“As we live through these kaleidoscope of days when confusion, distrust, conflict and misery are so common everywhere, it is revealing to note that more and more people are finding reassurance and peace of mind in companionship beyond the bounds of humanity. They are making friends not only with such conventional favorites as dogs, horses, cats, and birds, but with wild animals, snakes and insects.”
“Men and women everywhere are being made acutely aware of the fact that
something essential to life and well-being is flickering very low in the
human species and threatening to go out entirely. This “something” has to
do with such values as love…unselfishness…integrity…sincerity…loyalty to
one’s best…honesty…enthusiasm…humility…goodness,,,happiness…fun.
Practically every animal has these in abundance and is eager to share them,
given opportunity and encouragement.”
“In this connection it is interesting to recall that people of certain
ancient times appear to have been great virtuosos in the art of living,
particularly skilled in the delicate science of being in right relations
with everything, including animals.” (J. Boone, Kinship With All Life, p,
7-8)
With the above thoughts in mind, what follows is the real life story of a
weak, needy bee, and the kind, observant lady who took care of him, written
in her exact words, which I cannot improve upon.
“Today I had a very simple but very pleasant experience. I found a
bumble-bee in my kitchen, very weak, clinging to a small bowl. I took him
outside onto the grass, where he sat for ages, hopefully gathering a bit of
strength from the earth, but not looking good. He was very lifeless. I
talked to him, praised him, asked for energy for him. Eventually, he
stretched a bit, crawled from the grass onto the verandah and set out slowly
across the concrete. I put some water in front of him – not interested of
course….so….do bees eat honey? Yep. He paused at the bit of manuka honey,
then started eating it. So cute to watch his long, thin tongue moving from
side to side, tiny movements –it was the same height as his legs as he stood
up.”
“I had to go out, but when I returned, the blob of honey (about the size of
a thumbnail), had disappeared and the bumble-bee had gone!” By Noelene XX
References
Boone, J. Allen, Kinship With All Life, Harper & Row, New York, 1954.
Noelene, The Bee Had Gone, quoted with permission of author, a resident of
New Zealand.
Copyright 2014 The Caring Heart
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