The Blessings of Honey

​One of the fascinating displays at our local Grange Fair was of honeybees. Not only were there posters explaining the process of making honey, but there was also a beehive frame with hundreds of bees around the queen bee. One of the posters told us that the bee is the first animal domesticated by man thousands of years ago. The poster went on to say, "In Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, India, South Africa, and the Americas, people have harvested since the dawn of time the nests of wild bees, then began installing colonies in wooden, ceramic, mud, or straw habitats."
 
Bees make and store honey so that they have something to eat when there are not enough flowers in bloom. They find both pollen (their source of protein) and nectar (their carbohydrate) from flowers. Every flower produces a unique flavor and color of honey. Bees collect the nectar through their tongues, called the proboscis. Those who do the collecting are called forager bees. They bring the nectar to the hive in what is called their "honey stomach." The enzymes in their stomachs begin to break down the nectar into simpler sugar. When back at the hive, the forager bees pass the nectar on to the younger bees called house bees. The nectar is passed from one house bee to another which further breaks down the sugar and reduces the water content. It is then deposited into hexagonal-shaped honeycomb cells. The water content of the honey must get below twenty percent to be ready. The bees then seal the honeycomb with a wax cap.
 
I read on "honeyflow.com" that it takes two million flower visits for a honeybee colony to produce one pound of honey. This must be why there is a need for so many bees in a colony. Every bee in a colony becomes essential to the protection of honey. Recently, there has been a decline in the bee population due to pesticides, habitat loss, diseases, and parasites. Shifts in temperature and rainfall patterns can also affect a colony. Bees cannot fly in the rain. Without honeybees our diets would suffer greatly. They are necessary for pollination. There is an organization called The California Almond Board that has been campaigning to save bees. They say that almonds would not exist without the pollination of the honeybees. Apples, avocados, onions, and some berry types also rely on bees for pollination.
 
In the Bible, honey is associated with abundance, provision, sweetness, and blessing. Multiple times, when God was bringing the Israelites out of Egypt and into the Promised Land, He told them He was bringing them into a land "flowing with milk and honey." Moses reminded his people of this: "Hear, O Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your fathers, promised you." (Deuteronomy 6:3)
 
The Psalmist writes about honey from the rock: "If my people would but listen to me, if Israel would follow my ways...You would be fed with the finest of wheat; with honey from the rock, I would satisfy you." (Psalm 81:13, 16) Here, I believe the rock could represent Jesus—our source of sustenance, blessing, and grace. Even during challenging times, God's goodness brings us blessing and joy. We should also remember that as honey is sweet and nourishing, so is God's Word. "How sweet are Your words, to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth." (Psalm 119:103)