3/15/11

I like Birds & Bees.

I think it's no secret that birds fascinate me - especially the 'couples' birds who work together to build a beautiful, perfect nest for their future babies...and then work together to take care of the little birdlets.  Hence the name of my blog!  However - another crazy fascination I have is with BEES!  Interesting....the two things I'm obsessed about - birds & bees...hmmm...!

Let me make myself perfectly clear---insects of all varieties creep the heck out of me---except BEES.  I LOVE bees!!!  {I don't love getting stung by them, though}  I've actually nicknamed my baby girl "Brookie Bee" because she's so dang busy all of the time!!! ...and Brooke starts with "B" - get it?! haha. {cleverrrr}

Bees are amazing little guys and here's why I love them so much:



1.) They symbolize hard work and industry.  You know, "Busy as a Bee!" Exemplifying bees goes back to ancient days - bees and beehives have been used in many civilizations as a symbol of hard work and productivity.  In fact, my church {The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints} adopted the term "Deseret" meaning "honeybee" as an inspiring symbol of our people's desire to prosper and become self sufficient.  I love that!!!  {Utah was requested to be named "Deseret" but obviously that didn't happen.}




2.) Every bee has a job and they spend their short little lives fulfilling that role with precision.  They don't compare or compete with each other - they work together - and they work HARD.  They are each different and unique, complete with their own individual scent and...get this... they dance to communicate!  {gasp!}


3.) Bees make honey.  We could spend all day talking about the amazing qualities of honey.  Don't you just LOVE to look at a beautiful jar of liquid gold?!  Honey is the only insect-produced food, and it is the only food that includes all life sustaining ingredients:  water, enzymes, vitamins, and minerals.  Honey is the only food with the substance "pinocembrin" which is an enzyme to improve brain function.  {interesting!}  Looks like I need to eat a lot more honey...my brain needs improving.



Another interesting tidbit:  The average worker bee {all are female, by the way} produces 1/12th of a teaspoon of honey in her lifetime -- AND it takes only an ounce of honey to fuel a bee's flight around the world.  WOW!  Does it surprise you that the hardest working creatures are female?!  {girls rock.}



4.) ...you still with me?  Another reason why I love bees...They pollinate!  They help this whole earthly ecosystem function through the pollination process - as if honey production wasn't fascinating enough!  Without bees, about 70% of the earth's crops would fail, eliminating many animal species, as well as humans.  {eeek!}  Live on, little bees---may you flourish and prosper.


5.) And, finally - every colony has a Queen Bee.  Enough said.  She stays  home, has the babies, and gets lots of help.  {interestingly enough, the male bee doesn't work--just mates---go figure.}  A bee colony is a highly organized society with everybody cooperating and doing their part.  They provide life-sustaining services by hard work - VERY inspiring!


Do you see why I'm so in love with and fascinated by Bees?!  Now you're going to want to collect bee stuff with me - and look at what I found on Etsy! {squeal}  I want all of these!  I want to have little bee reminders around me to inspire me to work hard and be productive.  Which is your fave?!


Bee Tags from Creative Visions



Bee Bracelet from Lili Swan - I REALLY think I need this one.  It's perfect.















Beehive wreath from A Work of Heart
Oh MY - I want this so bad!  It would be perfect for my house.

Honey Bee locket from Rose and Raven
SERIOUSLY - I love the little drop of honey on this necklace...
Also from Rose and Raven - another Honey Bee necklace - I LOVE the simplicity of this one.



Bee pendant from The Pendant Emporium
LOVE the golden yellow and the bee image.  

How perfect is this for me?!  Birds and Bees painting?!  OH, how I love it!!!

Credits:  Here is where I found some interesting info:  10 Amazing Honey Bee Facts

8 comments:

A Mormon Mommy said...

So, my father-in-law is Polish and my in-laws became grandparents young and they decided to go with the Polish names for grandma and grandpa. So my MIL is "Beesha", just like you think, Bee-sha! I think I see what your grandkids will call you!! (SEVERAL years down the road!)

Jori said...

Very interesting post!! I think birds and bees are fascinating too. There have been a couple of blue herons by our house, and I about flip every time they come around. Cute bees items! LOVE the tags and bracelet.

Lynaya said...

WoW that is a hard choice. I think the bracelet is my favorite, but I really like the necklaces and the pendent. I really think that you need one of each of them. The tags are so cute, it makes me want to buy some bee stamps and create something cute.

Amy Ragsdale said...

Oh, you would love living in Utah :) There's bee and beehive emblems everywhere symbolizing what you mentioned, especially the working part.

I don't see bees very often. A guy here who makes honey for a living says the bee population is down. Some people way it's because of cellular phone towers, or something. But anyway, I had a hard time growing my squash last year, and I swear it's because there were no bees to pollinate them!

Ok, that's the last time I leave a huge comment on bees. That was weird. And probably boring.

Tisha said...

Dave has been keeping bees in a beehive in our backyard for the last few years. Having our own supply of honey is definitely worth it. If we are ever out your way I will bring you some!

Maren said...

I've been peeking in at your blog since the advent calendar (loved it by the way) and realized I never comment...I just lurk:) So here it is: Cute bees! I love honey, and flowers, and i live in the beehive state, but I'm really more of a lady bug girl...got the earrings, necklaces, purses, and anklets to prove it. Cute blog!n

brandi mincey said...

Another interesting fact: honey has been a long time symbol of love, because honey lasts forever! Even if it crystalizes, you can just heat it up and its back to normal. This is what sparked our wedding theme....bees on the invitations, instead of lighting a unity candle we combined two pitchers of honey into a single vase (which sits on our mantle!), and the favors were little vials of honey. I love bees! :)

LuckyRedHen said...

I liked bee's before, but you've intruiged me and I want to LOVE them! The Birds and Bee's painting is SO COOL! Thanks for inspiring :)