On a Saturday afternoon in June, as Oregon-based bee steward Farrah King was reorganizing and tidying her workbench in the greenhouse, a distressed female bee caught her attention.
“She was buzzing really loudly and just sounded frustrated,“ Ms. King told The Epoch Times. “I immediately could see that she got tangled in an old [spider] web.”
Acting on her instinct to help the bee, Ms. King grabbed a nearby wooden garden stake, and carefully assessed the distressed insect’s situation, wanting to help her break free.
“I was concerned that I might rip her wings because their wings are so delicate,” she said.
Ms. King took the bee to the nearest hive in her apiary.
“It was a total risk,” she said. “I had no idea if the bees would help her, ignore her, or attack her because bees can be very territorial, and I was also hoping that they would help her.”
Not long after, what transpired left Ms. King in “complete amazement and awe.”
She noticed a group of six vigilant bees marching out of the entrance of the hive and surrounding the foreign bee. With their proboscises (tongues) and tiny legs, they worked together and removed the web within 10 minutes.
“It was nothing short of miraculous,” Ms. King, who resides by the Columbia River in Astoria, said.
Reflecting on the Act of Unity: ‘A Profound Message’
Reflecting on the moral behind what the bees did on this special summer day, Ms. King said they offered “a profound message” that humans can adapt.“Bees are quite unifying in this way, which I think transcends into the consciousness of humanity,” she said. “Even if they’re not part of their community, bees are communal and function always in service to the whole, so it’s just a beautiful message.”
“It’s been so endearing and warm,” she said. “I’ve just been very overwhelmed with lots of love and how well it’s been received.”
As a bee steward, Ms. King has learned a lot about bees by just observing their behavior. Bees, she said, are quite “mysterious” and “curious.” They operate within a colony matrix; they don’t act individually.
“They function all together as this super organism for the benefit of the whole, so I often see worker bees clean one another,” she said. “They also exchange nectar, using their tongues or proboscises, to one another before turning it into honey.”
A rather fun fact, she notes, is bees are tidy creatures that work together to keep their hive free from foreign objects.
Ms. King, who is also a folk herbalist and a sonographer, didn’t delve into beekeeping until 2014. Initially, she struggled with traditional beekeeping methods but persisted in her journey and soon discovered “bee-centric” and “natural” beekeeping, undergoing an apprenticeship.
Although Ms. King has developed a deep appreciation for these little creatures, she realizes that not everyone is fond of them, as many have had experiences with bee stings. However, she clarifies that honeybees don’t inherently desire to sting but do so to protect their colony and die once they sting someone.
“They’re giving up their life, but they do it in service to the protection of the colony and the whole, so it’s a sacrificial act, and it’s just a really beautiful thing,” Ms. King said.
