The elephant and the bees

Why bees live in hives, why elephants have long trunks and why beekeepers use smoke Once elephants had little nibby trunks and bees lived alone in drafty nests at the top of trees. One day there was a great smoky fire in the forest

• the bees fly to safety but the elephants can not see and run in circles
• should the bees fly down to help the elephants
• they do and go up the elephants trunks to keep out the smoke
• they guide the elephants to the lake and safety BUT refuse to leave the trunks

Oh we like it here buzzzz dark and warm and safe

• the elephants blew and blew and their trucks got longer and longer
• should they step on the bees when finally they make them drowsy by breathing in the smoke?

What a dilemma!!

Talk to the bees

What happens if you don’t talk to the bees? No apples that’s what until a strange old womans with a black and yellow hairy coat and a very long nose calls by …

---

Snippets

The ancient Celts also saw honeybees as messengers between worlds. They considered honeybees bringers of wisdom and revered them for their role in the metaphysical.

The Irish goddess Brigid held bees to be sacred, with her hives bringing their magical nectar from her Otherworld apple orchard.

“You didn’t tell the bees, ” he said. “The old superstition says you have to tell the bees when something big happens—a birth, a death, a marriage, a move. You didn’t tell the bees.”

Useful online workshop https://www.harvestworkerscoop.org.uk/site/seasonal-family-workshops/family-workshop-summer-buzz/