We could learn a lot from a bee.1. Family comes first.
The success of the hive depends on everyone. Each bee (person?) has a role to play regardless of age or ability. And each role is just as important as the next. No one bee is valued above the other. But if some one or something threatens the hive (the family or the country, if you will) then everyone defends the hive... even to the death. The success of the hive is top priority.
2. Work is important.
Whether you are a nurse bee, guard bee, or worker bee (and normally as a bee you get the opportunity to do all three) you are special and your work brings health, well being, and protection to your family. Everyone works. A bee that doesn't work eventually ends up thrown out. Consider the poor drones at the end of the summer. All the male bees (drones) are pushed out of the hive at the end of the summer... drones only eat and inseminate queen bees. They neither toil, clean nor collect anything. So they are expelled from the hive. Work is life. Life is work. And if you've ever watched a bee do her work then you will realize that she works with eagerness, enthusiasm, and direction.
3. Bees co-exist with harmony.
As she travels from flower to flower the worker bee collects pollen (you might notice the yellow pollen sack on this bee sitting on the nasturtium flower). Collecting pollen is sometimes an untidy task. The bee buzzes from flower to flower dropping bits and pieces of pollen from each flower on to another... what a wonderful and efficient way to help plants fruit. Without the fruit there would be no seed. Without the seed there would be no plant. Without the plant there would be no flower. And without the flower there would be no pollen or nectar and hence, no bee. Bees co-exist with nature.
4. Bees know when to replace their leader.
When the queen is no longer laying eggs well, or is exhibiting unusual and detrimental behavior to the health of the hive she is killed by her subordinates. They "supercede" her and replace her with one of her own offspring. In essence the new queen is the half sister of the old queen. The new virgin queen is born several weeks later and then mates and begins the new "government" fresh with energy and vitality.
Questions to ponder: Are our priorities in line? Is our first priority the preservation and success of our family? Do we approach work as joy? Or is work a four letter word in which life exists around? Do we experience the satisfaction of a job well done? Have we given it our all? How have we tended the garden? The environment? The lives around us? Do we work or co-exist in harmony? Or do we try to master everything (even to our peril)? And lastly, do we as a people know when to replace our leader?
I find it interesting that the hive naturally replaces their leader from someone in the same family. The hive realizes that the queen is not well... she is not good for the hive. But her traits, genetics and characteristics are still important. One doesn't have to be a rocket scientist to know where this line of thought is going. We know that President Bush has done some wonderful and spectacular things for our country... but...(not wanting to be pessimistic) it is time to replace him... not with a totally new "type" but with one with similar values, beliefs, and vitality. It was those characteristics that made the hive great to begin with. So our new leader should be one that recognizes and believes (therefore acts upon): (1) family (country) comes first (to defend at all costs), (2) work is valuable (those who can work, should work), and (3) environment is fragile and must be worked with in harmony within the cycle of life. Seems pretty simple. Pretty fundamental. Pretty bee-like.
We could learn a lot from a bee....
Today's journey joy: the example of a bee
