Welcome to another week of quarantine, a time for creating, reflecting, and procrastinating, peppered by the occasional rant, which will be left to bubble up naturally at some future date. So today’s meditation is about creatures that work—not just for each other, but for us as well. I’m thinking of my favorites, admired not for beauty but for their industriousness: bees.
Bees—stewards of the plant kingdom. The products we make by helping ourselves to theirs are legion: waxes—industrial, cosmetic, medicinal, utilitarian, and decorative; honey for baked goods, candy, cosmetics, and best of all—for heaping on bread and butter.: Other less-known hive products–propolis, a broad spectrum disinfectant and sealant, and royal jelly, fed to the lucky larva destined to become a queen–have also been adapted for human use.
In addition, bees deliver many bee-hours of work on our behalf pollinating acres cultivated for almonds, walnuts, fruits, and more. For the benefit of the agribusinesses that depend on them, thousands of hives are crated and trucked across the country to follow the crops.
Thus, I am grateful for every ounce these hard-working ladies can spare for my very special candles. “Cherish the Bees”—the name is derived from the Irish dance “Cherish the Ladies”, see pic. The wax from small suppliers here in the Northeast is beautifully fragrant, fresh, and free of debris or additives. I amend the wax with an equal portion of organic coconut oil to assure the candles have enough fuel to burn in a confined space—as the wax was not made for our pleasure but to build the hive and protect their contents, so has virtually no fat in it.
Wishing you love and light, Wilda
