Bee Mine

One of my mentors had cared for bee hives for many years and spoke of bees as ”noble animals.” Allan was one of the most knowledgeable and wisest people I knew.

These noble animals communicate through dance. The bee dance signals the direction and length to a pollen source, perhaps even what type of flower.

The noble animals are in perfect balance with nature. They do the flower a service and the flower pays in pollen. The flower and the bee are mutually satisfied. No one makes demands on the other to work faster or produce more. Both do what they do in mutual appreciation for each other.

Unfortunately, bees cannot see chemical attacks. They can’t see pesticides that they pick  and deposit in the honey at the hive. Their weakened bodies must be pepped up with vitamins, antibiotics and other drugs that also get deposited into the honey.

There is of course pure honey, tasty, sweet and nourishing. But pure honey isn’t going to jump into your shopping cart. You have to be careful.

If you’re stressed, or in a hurry, or eager to get out of the store, or just plain everyday dizzy, it would be easy to put this jar of ”Gårds”honey into your cart. The name formally means little or family farm and awakens associations to small scale and local. The simple label with ”stitched” border strengths this impression.  But we should be  suspicious by the ”Blomhonung” (Flower Honey) under the bee-logo. Flower honey! You don’t say? Whew, I’m glad the bees didn’t gather the pollen from bark or snakes.

The first line of the small print to our left states: ”A mixture of non-EU honey.”

A strange label. Translation: You know absolutely nothing about this honey other than it comes from somewhere, maybe many places, outside the European Union.

There are tons and tons of honey in circulation that can’t be legally sold in EU and other countries because they are contaminated with pesticides, lead and antibiotics.

This jar of small farm flower honey however is probably, well maybe, perhaps?, hopefully perfectly safe. The authorities wouldn’t allow contaminated honey on EU shopping shelves, would they. On the other hand, it is obligatory to declare the origin of a product. Non-Eu is hardly a declaration of origin.

Oh, go ahead and eat it anyway! The bees will soon all be gone because of the poisons. Show a little solidarity!

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“People have rulers, chickens have foxes.”
Dartwill Aquila

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