A Beekeeper's Prayer


Dear Lord,

Please Lord, guide that beekeeper, the one so faithful, The one so proud and
thankful for that golden honey so tasteful, for Lord, he puts his trust in
you and in hives of honey bees, Lord with hopes that a bountiful harvest of
honey he soon sees.

Please Lord, send him blessings for his toil, his devotion and his trust
because Lord, going to the bee yard each day is a must. And Lord whether you
send hot or cold, rain or shine, He, on that day, must trust those bees to
be ever so kind.

Please Lord, give him strength and courage in those hard times, for Lord he
knows the ladder to success is sometimes hard to climb. And remember Lord,
in those hard times he always comes to you with his prayers, Lord, not
prayers for himself he dares, but those for whom he cares.

Please Lord, provide him and his bees with all their needs, for Lord, much
of the world their labor feeds, for without those bees plants could not
produce seeds, and what would we all eat with only fields of weeds.

Please Lord, laden him with knowledge and wisdom, the kind only you provide,
Lord, for him to recognize the work and loving support of his bride, Lord,
for the joy that she brings just by being on and by his side, and too, Lord,
that next to you, she is one reason for his pride.

Please Lord, because life can be burdensome Lord please continue to bless
his home. Fill it with laughter of children not to be so lonesome, for Lord,
young beekeepers, there is need for some.

Please Lord, not to make this prayer too long, please keep him and all from
doing wrong, but like King David fill his heart with joyful song so Lord he
won't be kicked out like a drone.

(sent by Philip Earle)


He is dead, busy bees
He is dead, busy bees; he's dead, busy bees!
Go tell the sad news to the flowers on the leas;
Go tell the sad news over forest and fell,
He's dead, busy bees, who served you so well.

He is dead, busy bees; he's dead, busy bees!
In the stillness of the night his soul found release,
So soft his breath ceased no watcher could tell.
So peaceful his end, who loved you so well.

He is dead, busy bees; he's dead, busy bees!
The winter is coming and soon it will freeze;
Your stores may be low, for I've no means to tell,
Now he's dead, busy bees, who served you so well.

He is dead, busy bees; he's dead, busy bees!
How oft he sat with you and smoked at his ease,
And watched your swift flight as you flew o'er the dell,
Now he's dead, busy bees; who served you so well.

He is dead, busy bees; he's dead, busy bees!
The crepe on your hives is astir in the breeze,
Attune your low notes, as tolls the last bell,
With the song of the hive, as he loved it so well.

                     R. E. Richardson, 1948

(Sent by Maurice from Belgium)

Blessing of Bees on the Feast of St. Benedict
St. Benedict is the patron of beekeepers, and many people attach medals of
St. Benedict on their hives. Here is a blessing over the bees. This blessing
is from the old Roman Ritual, which has been suppressed since the issue of
the new Ritual. Laypersons can still use this blessing in private as
personal prayer.

St. Benedict's feast was formerly March 21, but it is now celebrated on July
11.


St. Benedict is the patron of bee-keepers, and those who themselves have
bees could not do better than mark his day by praying for their hives.
Farmers can pray for their cattle and their barns; fishermen for their
fishing boats and the fish in the sea, why should bee-keepers do less? In
some parts of France it was, and may still be, customary for bee-keepers to
have a medal of St. Benedict affixed to their hives:


  O Lord, God almighty, who hast created heaven and earth and every animal
existing over them and in them for the use of men, and who hast commanded
through the ministers of holy Church that candles made from the products of
bees be lit in church during the carrying out of the sacred office in which
the most holy Body and Blood of Jesus Christ thy Son is made present and is
received; may thy holy blessing descend upon these bees and these hives, so
that they may multiply, be fruitful and be preserved from all ills and that
the fruits coming forth from them may be distributed for thy praise and that
of thy Son and the holy Spirit and of the most blessed Virgin Mary.

Prayer Source: Candle is Lighted, A by P. Stewart Craig, The Grail, Field
End House, Eastcote, Middlesex, 1945

(sent by Dan O'Hanlon)

Busy little honeybee
Living in your Hive
Working night and day for me
God makes your strive.
Then upon my breakfast table
From you little bee
Comes your honey so delicious
Sticky, golden and yummy!
So for our little worker
Love for her let's send
Do not bother or disturb her
She's our busy friend!

(Sent by Russ Dean)


The Beemaster's Prayer


Will there be bees in heavenly places

Will there be bees?

Winging their way through the golden spaces

To fruitify the eternal trees

That yield their sweet life-giving store

Month by month for ever more.

Will soft bee music haunt the stream

Whose waters shine with crystal glow

And will they come where lilies gleam

To sip the eternal nectar flow?

Lord thou didst love our earthly places

Birds and flowers and shady trees-

Let there be Bees in heavenly places

Let there be Bees



Anon.

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