The Tribal Bee…
Bees are very tribal creatures. They live in hives just as the native people live in bands and tribes. The queen is at the center of the hive, just as the grandmother is the wisdom and center of tribal communities. Bees are dancers like tribal people of the world. A single bee can travel many miles away from the hive and find a field of flowers. It collects samples of the nectar and brings it back to the hive. All the other bees gather around the one and sample the nectar. If the nectar is acceptable to the hive, the one bee does a dance that tells all the other harvester bees exactly where the field of flowers is.
In the same way, the hunter-gatherers of tribal people do this when they make a find for the band. There are warrior bees that protect the hive from any threat at all costs. If a bear comes to steal the honey, the warrior bees dance themselves into frenzy. The warriors will sting the bear with wave after wave of stings until they drive him off.
If a heavy rain comes, the warrior bees will form a blanket with their bodies over the hive, body to body, wings facing down like tiny shingles. The warrior endures the wet and cold to protect the hive and keep it dry and warm. All the bees have their place in the hive. Working together they maintain the needs of all. The community is a family. The bee takes sweet nectar from the flower. They get their food and the plant gets pollinated and both survive.
We humans can learn much from the bees. How can we make our community a family? When we hunt and gather are we doing it in a way that is a service to that which we hunt and gather, like the flower and the bee? Do we pollinate when we take? Where is grandmother in today's world? Is she honored and respected, the center of our wisdom and source of life? Or is she in an old folks' home waiting to pass on? Do we dance to share our finds, or do we dance for our pride? Yes, there is much we can learn from the bees and all of creation.
"May Creator open our understanding to the teachings you give us through nature and all of creation."
