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Gleanings From The Word

Tag: honey bees

  • Nobody Told The Bees – Lessons in Obedience

    Yesterday, I was once again enjoying the busyness of the bumble bees at the lavender in the backyard. I was pondering the myth that bumble bees and honey bees shouldn’t be able to fly and wondered where that came from.

    I did some research, and according to one source, “The origins of the honey bee flight myth are hazy, but the most enduring version involves an aerodynamics engineer casually calculating that a bee’s weight-to-wing-area ratio made flight impossible. Though some accounts attribute the claim to scientists like Ludwig Prandtl or Jakob Ackeret, it likely stems from a misunderstood 1934 observation by the French zoologist Antoine Magnan, who applied fixed-wing flight equations to insect wings and concluded — incorrectly — that insect flight defied aerodynamic theory”.

    Of course, both bumble bees and honey bees can fly, as we well know. Apparently, nobody told God that they couldn’t fly and certainly no one told the bees.

    That took me down the rabbit hole of thinking about how we come up with reasons we can’t do things that God asks of us.

    I thought of Moses standing beside the burning bush. He had plenty of excuses.

    But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” Exodus 3:10

    Then Moses said to God, “Behold, I am about to come to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you.’ And they will say to me, ‘What is His name?’ What shall I say to them?” Exodus 3:13

    Then Moses said to Yahweh, “Please, Lord, I have never been a man of words, neither recently nor in time past, nor since You have spoken to Your slave; for I am one with a hard mouth and a hard tongue.” And Yahweh said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes him mute or deaf, or seeing or blind? Is it not I, Yahweh? So now, go, and I, even I, will be with your mouth and will instruct you what you shall speak.” But he said, “Please, Lord, send now the message by whomever You will.” Exodus 4:10-13

    Let’s make that more current, no burning bush. “Kevin, I want you to invite your neighbor to church”, saith the LORD.

    “Who me? You must be mistaken. I wouldn’t even know what to say.”

    “Yes, you! Did I stutter?”

    “You must be mistaken. Send someone else to ask them. Someone who has the gift of inviting.”

    Now, it might not be inviting that the Lord has called us to do, but all of us have something the Lord has told us to do that we fight Him on with excuses, pass the buck to others, or just plain pretend not to hear.

    The Lord knows our shortcomings as well as He knows that bees are perfectly capable of flight. If we have a shortcoming, He will provide what we need.

    For consider your calling, brothers, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may abolish the things that are, so that no flesh may boast before God. 1 Corinthians 1:26-29

    As someone once said (and I can’t find an accurate attribution), “God doesn’t call the equipped; He equips the called.”

    Obedience when we know it’s our gifting is easy. When we’re not certain, or worse yet, convinced we can’t do what God asks, it’s even harder. Still, if God has called us to it, it’s for a reason.

    It’s time we traded our excuses for obedience. God knows what He is doing, even when we think He’s wrong. Maybe I’ll just go talk to that neighbor today.

    Hallelu Yah (Praise God)

    Be blessed

    Kevin

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  • Bumble bees and the sweetness of God’s Word.

    Bumble bee on lavender - abbotsford BC 2026

    The humble bumble bee (Bombus species), one of the most important native pollinators in Canada.

    Unlike honey bees, bumble bees can fly in cool, cloudy, and even lightly rainy conditions. They generate heat by vibrating their flight muscles before takeoff, allowing them to become active when temperatures are only a few degrees above freezing.

    Bumbles are quite gentle and rarely sting. Unlike honeybees, their stinger isn’t barbed, so they can sting repeatedly, although I’ve never been stung by one, even when picking them up or landing on me. Their quiet buzzing and gentle nature make me think of them as happy bees.

    Bumbles live in small colonies of 5-200 bees, usually underground, and the entire colony dies over the winter. A new queen hatches every season.

    Some bumble bee trivia:

    Bumble bees can see ultraviolet patterns on flowers that humans cannot.

    They remember productive flower patches and return repeatedly.

    They are capable of simple learning and can even solve basic foraging problems.

    Canada is home to dozens of native bumble bee species.

    Now what in the world do bumble bees have to do with the Bible? Probably nothing, but bumble bees make me think of honey bees, and they bring to mind honey (and Winnie the Pooh, but that’s a story for another day).

    Bumbles store up only small amounts of honey, like nectar. They don’t produce a surplus like honey bees.

    There are bees in the bible, most likely a subspecies of the western honey bee. 

    Certainly, the Bible speaks of honey frequently.

    The Bible uses honey to symbolize prosperity, God’s provision and the Word of God.

    The law of Yahweh is perfect, restoring the soul;
    The testimony of Yahweh is sure, making wise the simple.
    The precepts of Yahweh are right, rejoicing the heart;
    The commandment of Yahweh is pure, enlightening the eyes.
    The fear of Yahweh is clean, enduring forever;
    The judgments of Yahweh are true; they are righteous altogether.

    They are more desirable than gold, even more than much fine gold;
    Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb    . Psalm 19:8-10

    How sweet is Your word to my taste!
    Sweeter than honey to my mouth!     Psalm 119:103

    As we grow to know the Lord more, we gain a deeper appreciation for His Word. It does become sweet to us and nourishes our souls. We are richer for having it in our lives.

    My prayer is that as you walk in the footsteps of Jesus, you grow to having a craving for time in His Word.

    Be blessed

    Kevin

    Honey Bees and the Bible

    SUMMARY

    I share what I’ve learned about bumble bees, Canada’s gentle native pollinators, and how their humble nature led me to think about honey and the sweetness of God’s Word. Just as bumble bees quietly do their work without fanfare, I’m reminded that knowing the Lord more deeply makes His Word sweeter to us than honey.

    TAKEAWAY

    Bumble bees are gentle, hardworking pollinators that fly in conditions honey bees can’t tolerate, generating their own heat to stay active

    Unlike honey bees, bumble bees store only small amounts of honey rather than a surplus, yet honey itself appears throughout Scripture as a symbol of God’s provision and the sweetness of His Word

    Psalm 19 and Psalm 119 both describe God’s Word as sweeter than honey, pointing to a deepening craving for time in Scripture as we grow closer to the Lord

    Read the Word. Read the Word. Read the Word.
    Nobody Told The Bees – Lessons in Obedience