Waxing Lyrical About Bees


Bees have held a special place in the hearts of humans for centuries.  

Ancient cultures have long valued bees along with their wax and honey.  Philosophers and great thinkers have been inspired by bees.

Playwrights, authors, poets and artists have long found a space for bees in their works.

The world religions find a place for bees to set an example to humanity and provide evidence of God's blessing.

The result is that bees feature everywhere: they crop up in quotes and proverbs, poems and plays, science and medicine, the great holy books and novels through the ages.

Here you can explore some of these themes.

When you shoot an arrow of truth proverb

Bee-themed Quotes And Proverbs
From playwrights, poets, philosophers and more.



Bumble bee on pink cosmos flower

Poems about bees
Poems by Emily Dickinson, Kahlil Gibran, Ogden Nash, Rudyard Kipling, A. A. Milne and more.  



Apis mellifera (honey bee) on a vibrant orange Helenium (Sneezeweed) flower

Bee jokes and tongue twisters
Bees can even be funny!  Have a chortle at some of these, and see if you can manage to get your tongue around our very own tongue twisters.



Ra the sun god

Bees in mythology
From Ra the Sun God to Cupid the honey thief.



Sherlock Holmes Baker Street sign

Why Sherlock Holmes became a beekeeper
Why was Conan Doyle inspired to give his famous detective the hobby of beekeeping?



Manchester coat of arms featuring bees

Bees and symbolism
Bees are associated with hard work and blessing.  They are carved onto buildings, appear on coats of arms as well as in myths of old.



a small glass of mead

The Poem Y Gododdin
An ancient Welsh poem.



highcompress_howtomakeabeeskneescocktail.jpg

The Bees Knees
Where does this phrase come from, what is the origin of the Bees' Knees cocktail, and do bees really have knees?



honey bees on propolis

Bees in the Bible
A look at the many references to bees and honey through out the Old and New Testaments



honey bee foraging on blossom

Judges 14
The meaning of Judges 14, wherein Samson kills a lion, and then eats honey from the lion carcass



honey bees on comb

Bees in the Quran
A look at where honey bees and honey feature in the Quran and what it represents.



small bowl of honey and honey dipper

Bees in Judaism
How bees and honey influence Jewish religious customs and traditions.





a group of 5 beekeepers

What do you call a group of beekeepers?
Alternative phrases for groups of beekeepers!



Victorian etching of wild bees

Victorian etching of bees
..and what it tells us.



encaustic art picture of a landscape by Victoria Primicias

Encaustic art
A form of art that uses beeswax as a medium.  Here, a Q&A with Victoria Primicias.







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leafcutter bee on sweet pea plant sweet peas for bees