New Vrindaban Brijabasi Spirit

The Emergence of the Bees

 by Jayadevi dasi

On Sunday, March 10, the first mild and sunny day near spring, I visited my friend and her two beehives.  Many workers were buzzing around their narrowed winter entrance.  They were defending the entrances against predator wasps attempting to get inside, and doing a great job.  I sat in the sun, mesmerized by their diligence and determination to protect their hive, despite being a little slow from their winter dormancy.

After a winter as harsh as this one, we beekeepers approach our hives with hope and fear, “Did the colony survive?”  The worker bees keep a constant temperature of about 95 degrees F, (35 degrees C) in a core area of the hive, even in the deepest cold of winter or in the tropical heat.

The life spans of worker honeybees are on average between four and six weeks during the active season, but those reared late in the season may survive until spring, as they do little during the cold months except feed and keep warm.  The average life span of a queen honeybee is one to three years.  A drone dies immediately after mating with the queen.  Drones are prevalent in colonies during the spring and summer months.  As autumn approaches, they are evicted from the hive, and soon die of starvation and exposure.

With the happy discovery that the hive I tend survived the winter, some other miraculous, groundbreaking research had determined that the nano-particles in bee venom containing the chemical Melittin destroys the HIV virus that causes AIDS and leaves the surrounding cells intact.

A baby born with the HIV virus was cured within two days using melittin therapy.

Bee sting therapy, aka apitherapy, has long been used in the treatment of arthritis.  The medical writing of Hippocrates, Pliny the Elder and Galen refer to apitherapy.  Bee venom is also thought to help ease the symptoms of multiple sclerosis, tendonitis, and fibromyalgia.  The peptide melittin stimulates the production of cortisol, an anti-inflammatory.

Of course, bee sting therapy cannot be used for people who are allergic to bee stings.  A beekeeper typically builds a tolerance to stings and while they avoid getting stung as much as possible, the stings are sometimes welcome as a type of elixir (at least in my experience.)  My last stings occurred when I harvested a small amount of honey for Balarama’s appearance day.

All glories to the Dear Apis Mellifera!