As children we learned from Winnie-the-Pooh that bees made honey and loved the cute animated bees swarming about his head. Sadly, many of us grew to fear bees and as more pesticides have been used globally, their numbers have greatly diminished. But all is not lost...read on:
Recently, I met a friend of my cousin and in conversation she shared a wonderful experience. She and her husband noticed that a hive of bumble bees had taken up residence in one of the old tree stumps on their property. Being animal lovers and knowing the importance of bees, they left it alone to thrive. One day she was moving some manure in her truck and accidentally backed into the tree and the hive! Hundreds of bees launched out of the stump and flew around in a frenzy. When she realized what she had done, she pulled forward, jumped out of the truck and grabbed the teetering stump and righted it back to its normal resting position. It took her several minutes to position it, and during this process she noticed a single bee hovering around her. It seemed to be watching her.When she had finished "fixing" the stump she looked over at the frenzy of bees. They had all gathered together and began to fly directly toward her, angry that she had disturbed their home. When she realized that they were preparing for attack, this bee-loving lady actually became worried and frightened. But just as she was staring at the swarm, she noticed that the single bee that had been watching her closely flew in between her and the angry mob. The entire mob stopped and hovered as the bee danced back and forth, up and down, and to her amazement the swarm returned to the hive. The single bee flew up to her face and buzzed her before also returning to the hive. That single bee knew that she had been helping them and told the hive. What an AMAZING and wonderful testament to the intelligence and understanding of bees!
