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Many cultures around the world recognize the significance of honey bees. This is reflected in the widespread use of bees as important symbols. There are many interpretations of what the bee represents and a wide variety of people who use or have used bees as their symbols. Here are just a few fun facts:

The Honey bee is the official state insect in a number of U.S. states including:

These famous humans used bees as their personal symbols:

• Egyptian pharaohs in Lower Egypt used bees as the royal symbol from 3000 to 350 BC.
• The Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte used the bee as a symbol of immortality and resurrection. Napoleon's red cape is famous for its bee print. Some say the fleur-de-lis was actually a bee.
• Pope Urban III in 1626 (Rome)
• St. Ambrose is the patron saint of beekeepers.
• Virgil, the Roman poet was a beekeeper.
• Many tribes in Africa use the bee as their totem.
• It is rumored that Alexander the Great was buried in honey. Burying the dead (especially nobility) in or with honey was common practice in Egypt, Assyria, and other regions. Honey was also used to embalm the dead.
• Many famous poets and writers such as Virgil, Sophocles, and Plato were associated with the bee. A common story was that infants whose lips were touched by bees would become great speakers, poets, storytellers, and philosophers. Thus, bees were often called "birds of the muses".

Bees also represent Gods and Deities:

• Artemis, the Ephesian Mother goddess.
• Vishnu, the Indian god known as the preserver, is depicted as a blue bee resting on a lotus flower.
• Krishna, an Indian god is often depicted with a blue bee on his forehead.
• Kama, the Indian god of love has a bow string made of bees.
• Re, the Egyptian sun god created bees and humans from his tears.
• Pan, the Greek god of Nature was a beekeeper and protector of bees.
• Austeja, is a Lithuanian bee goddess.
• Bubilas, is a Lithuanian bee god representing the drones.
• Mellonia or Mellona was the Roman goddess of bees.
• In Russia, the bee god Zosim was the protector of beekeeping.

Honey was a common offering to the Gods/Goddesses of these regions (and most likely many others as well):

• India
• Sumeria
• Babylonia
• Egypt
• Greece
• Rome
• Europe
• Africa
• Central America
• Mexico
• South Asia

What did the bee represent?

• The Soul: Many cultures, including the Greeks and Egyptians, believed the honey bee represented the soul.
• Royalty: Since bees were likened to the divine and maintained a matriarchal (though some originally believed it was patriarchal) order, they were used to symbolize royalty. This is shown for instance, in Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte's wide use of the honey bee.
• The Goddess/Great Mother: In many ancient texts the bee represents the Mother Goddess. Goddesses associated with fertility and nature are often associated with the honey bee. Some of these include: Ma, Rhea, Cybele, Ceres, Artemis/Diana, and Persephone.
• Community: The beehive is a complex system wherein bees perform many different tasks in order to keep the hive as a whole functioning properly. Since bees work together for the benefit of the entire community, they are one of the most prolific examples of a working community. Bees are constantly used in the Mormon religion to represent the ideal society. William Shakespeare even wrote: "For so work the honey bees, creatures that by a rule in nature teach the act of order to a peopled kingdom"
• Good Order: Bees were used to symbolize political and social order in that there was a leader (the role of the queen was modified in various regions to represent the Pope, King, Tsar, etc…) and a community that worked underneath this leader. Many early societies believed that the Queen bee was male!
• Purity: Bees were revered because of their ability to produce wax and therefore provide light, in many cases for religious practices. Imagine the huge importance of candles before the utilization of electricity! The Catholic Church believed beeswax to be pure because it was produced by virgins (worker bees do not mate). The Catholic Church still requires that their candles contain a certain amount of beeswax. Not only were bees responsible for light, but they also produced honey, the "nectar of the Gods". Honey was sacred because of its many curative properties. Some believed that honey not only cured physical ailments but emotional and spiritual ailments as well. Also before sugar, honey was one of the only natural sweeteners.
• Activity/Diligence/Work: Anyone who has seen a beehive or bees foraging on flowers knows the truth in the expression "busy as a bee". There is always something going on in the hive whether it be house cleaning, nursing the young, packing food away, guarding the entrance, dancing, eating, egg laying, fanning, or grooming. All these tasks are performed hundreds of times daily. Each day, a forager may make up to 10 trips back and forth to the hive to drop off the pollen or nectar she's collected from numerous flowers. Depending on foraging conditions, bees may travel ½ to 2 miles for each trip. After a hard days work, a forager bee may have flown 5 -10 miles to collect pollen and nectar for the hive! The National Honey Board states that "bees may travel as far as 55,000 miles and visit more than 2 million flowers to gather enough nectar to make just 1 pound of honey"!

Other unusual facts:

• Honey was such a valuable commodity that in many regions there were special laws to protect bees and beekeepers. It was a serious crime to damage trees/hives where bees lived in an attempt to get the honey. This crime could result in heavy fines or in some cases, the death sentence! One such example is the Linden tree (Tilia spp.), also known as Basswood. In many regions including Poland and Greece, the Linden was considered a sacred tree, which symbolized divine power, love, and luck. Since bees are highly attracted to Linden tree blossoms and the honey produced from these blossoms is of high quality, laws were passed to protect not only the tree but also the bees that may inhabit the tree. Cutting down Linden trees was associated with bad luck, punishment, and death. Sometimes the Linden tree is known as the "bee tree".
• Some people are purposefully stung or injected with honey bee venom! This procedure is called Apitherapy. Honey bee venom is reported to relieve and sometimes cure symptoms of autoimmune diseases such as lupus, multiple sclerosis, and arthritis. The American Apitherapy Society states that bee venom is also beneficial for a variety of other problems including eczema, psoriasis, warts, laryngitis, emphysema, asthma, and glaucoma! For more information, visit the American Apitherapy Society at www.apitherapy.org.

Honey:

• Honey is good for you! Honey is primarily composed of fructose, glucose, and water. Honey contains many vitamins including B1, B2, B6, C, E, K, and A. Honey also contains calcium, phosphorous, potassium, iron, copper, manganese, magnesium, sulfur, zinc, trace enzymes, minerals, amino acids, and antioxidants. For more detailed information on honey, please visit the National Honey Board at www.nhb.org.
• Medicinal uses of bee products have been explored and implemented in diverse cultures throughout antiquity and in modern day texts. For example, Hippocrates and Democritus advised the use of honey for optimal health, and believed it could help cure disease. Hippocrates said in 400 B.C., "Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food".
• One of the most common historical uses of honey was for the treatment of wounds. Honey was used as a salve, either alone or mixed with fat. Because of its antibiotic properties, it was said to heal dead tissues and ulcers. The sugar concentration in honey is so high that no bacteria can live in it. Honey was often used to treat gun shot wounds not only because of its bactericidal properties, but also because the consistency prohibited air and irritants from entering the wound, and in many cases it was more accessible than other forms of treatment. Honey has even been used in hospitals as a dressing for wounds, burns, and cuts!
• Honey is believed to help the immune system and fight infection. It is often used as a "home remedy" to treat colds. Honey mixed with lemon can be a soothing cough syrup.
• Ancient texts claim that honey may help to cure diseases of the lungs, liver, kidneys, and heart. Another interesting cure in many of the ancient medical texts is that of treating eye problems with a honey salve. Honey was used to treat conjunctiva, styes, swelling, cataracts, and eyesores.
• Mead (honey wine) is believed to be one of the oldest forms of alcoholic beverages. Many different societies produced and drank mead and its importance can be found in various countries including India, Ethiopia, Greece, Germany, and many others. Information on mead is vast and there are many sources for recipes, varieties, and history.
• Many current studies have promoted the intake of honey for athletes. Honey is a highly effective natural energy booster.

The words "bee" and "honey" are similar in many different languages - here are some examples:

• Beck, B.F. Honey and Health. New York: Robert M McBride, 1938.
• Berenbaum, May R. Bugs in the System: Insects and Their Impact on Human Affairs. Reading, Masachusettes: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Inc., 1995
• Crane, Eva. A Book of Honey. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1980.
• Crane, Eva. The Archaeology of Beekeeping. London: Gerald Duckworth & Co. Ltd., 1983.
• Ioyrish, Naum. Bees and People. Moscow: MIR Publishers, 1974
• Morse, Roger. Wines from the Fermentation of Honey in Honey - a Comprehensive Study. Etd. By Eva Crane. London: Morrison and Gibb Ltd., 1975.
• Ransome, Hilda. R. The Sacred Bee: In Ancient Times and Folklore. Burrowbridge, Bridgwater: BBNO Bee Books New and Old, 1987
• Rose, Amber. Bee In Balance

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