Aum Amriteshwaryai Namah
When Amma speaks about the environment and the importance of restoring Nature's harmony, she often mentions the state of honeybees. She said this in Paris in 2007 during a speech entitled "Compassion: The Only Way to Peace":
Usually, bees have no problem travelling as far as three kilometres from their hives when foraging for nectar. But these days, after collecting nectar, bees cannot remember their way back home and get lost. Unable to reach their hives, they die. In a way, it is because of bees that we have food. Bees play a vital role in the preservation of Nature and society. They pollinate the plants that provide us with fruits and grains .... All living beings need our help as well in order to survive. They are also our responsibility.
When we established the Amma Canada Centre on a farm outside Toronto in 2008, Amma's instructions included growing organic food, planting trees, and beekeeping. And so it was in the spring of 2009, we excitedly released our first nucleus of honeybees into a newly constructed wooden hive out by the maples.
When Amma speaks about the environment and the importance of restoring Nature's harmony, she often mentions the state of honeybees. She said this in Paris in 2007 during a speech entitled "Compassion: The Only Way to Peace":
Usually, bees have no problem travelling as far as three kilometres from their hives when foraging for nectar. But these days, after collecting nectar, bees cannot remember their way back home and get lost. Unable to reach their hives, they die. In a way, it is because of bees that we have food. Bees play a vital role in the preservation of Nature and society. They pollinate the plants that provide us with fruits and grains .... All living beings need our help as well in order to survive. They are also our responsibility.
When we established the Amma Canada Centre on a farm outside Toronto in 2008, Amma's instructions included growing organic food, planting trees, and beekeeping. And so it was in the spring of 2009, we excitedly released our first nucleus of honeybees into a newly constructed wooden hive out by the maples.
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| Rajeswari holds a frame while Nigama dusts the bees with icing sugar to treat for the varroa mite |
For me, working with bees up close has been nothing short of transformative. In the past, I hadn't given bees much thought other than to appreciate their fondness for flowers and enjoy the exquisite taste of their honey. I had no idea how they functioned as a community.
Each hive member has specific work. Each one executes precise tasks without question -- be it pollen gathering, hive guarding, larvae feeding, cleaning duties or reproducing. I went from viewing the hive as a cluster of individuals to seeing it as one organism. The spiritual symbolism, quite simply, blew me away.
The first season was about learning and experimentation. From the beginning, we practised organic methods to care for our bees and treat against parasites and other pests. Our bees responded well and they expanded quickly. By late fall, they were disease free and had stored more than 140 pounds of honey!
The success continued. Our hive not only survived its first winter, but had to be split into two in the spring. As we begin season three, things are looking equally optimistic. This time both hives have made it through another tentacle-chilling Ontario winter and one of them may have to be split yet again.
We're going to keep you updated here on the progress of our bees throughout the year and other things the beekeeping committee is up to. We're currently working on some lip balm to share with you that is made with wax from our own hives.
We also would like to post about the wider world of bees and beekeeping. This includes information about the global phenomenon known as colony collapse disorder and what we can learn from the bees about returning to a life in balance with nature.
Jai Ma!
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