I am in the process of going on a new adventure—beekeeping. Yes, that’s right, beekeeping. My goal is to have one or two hives of bees in my backyard. In preparation, I have identified the location in my yard, I have secured most of the pieces of the hive box and hopefully in a couple of weeks I will get my first “nuc”, which consists of a queen and several thousand bees. I have attended a couple beekeeping meetings and purchased a book that details beekeeping. Beekeeping in the backyard improves pollination and hopefully will reward me with a harvest of delicious honey.
Beehives consist of a queen, drones and worker bees. Each of them is very unique in what they do, but in my attempt to learn about beekeeping, I learned something so interesting about the bees–they know how to communicate. One of the ways that they communicate is through choreography. That’s right, they dance! The foraging worker bees dance when they return to the hive with news of nectar, pollen, or water. The worker bees dance on the comb using precise patterns. Depending on the style of dance, a variety of information is shared with the other honey bees. By this dance, they are able to obtain accurate information about the location and the type of food that has been located.
They will do a round dance or a waggle dance. The round dance communicates that the food source is within 10-80 yards of the hive. If the food source is a greater distance, the worker performs a waggle dance. This dance involves shivering side-to-side, while forming a figure eight. The vigor of the waggle, the number of times it is repeated, the direction of the dance and the sound the bee makes communicates precise information about the location of the food source. The bees even offer the recruits a taste of the goodies that they have brought back to the hive.
We who have been to Jesus, have experienced His grace, tasted of His goodness, received His mercy, and experienced His love—let us take note from the bees. We must go to those around us, communicate to them that we have found the Source of life—Jesus. We need to share Him and point others to Him so that they may experience a life filled with the sweet nectar of God’s love and grace.
Woody
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