As a child I had a terrible fear of wasps, a fear caused by my negligence: during an afternoon in a park in my city I inadvertently stamped their nest inside a trunk and I found my leg full of wasps and, even if running like I never could before, I couldn’t shake them off!
From that day my phobia began to go against any black and yellow flying insect (therefore also the bees!) and as soon as I heard the buzz I began to tremble! Then growing up I realized that these insects attack mainly only for defense, and actually on that occasion it was me who harassed them first!
Studying at school before and subsequently reading magazines or watching documentaries, I learned how important and vital the bees are for this world: “If bees disappeared off the face of the earth, humans would only have four years left to live.”
This phrase is disturbing, isn’t it? How is it possible that such a tiny insect, can hold the fate of us human beings?
Being a very curious person, I wanted to better understand the importance of the bee in our ecosystem, be aware of its contribution and what to do to understand it and respect it.
For centuries, if not millennia, bees have been living in perfect harmony with beekeepers, who are able to obtain honey, propolis, royal jelly and even wax from them. Furthermore, flying from flower to flower, they pollinate about 70% of all plants in the world! These bees are attracted by the colors and scents of flowers and from these they feed on their nectar. In exchange for this delicious food the bees, when they settle on the flower, then also become carriers of the pollen, a tiny yellow powder through which the plants reproduce: this is how the bees, even if involuntarily, become carriers of life among flowers!
What better time then to not take a lesson on the life of bees during my vacation in the mountains?
I spent a morning at this beekeeping family, Gocce d’Oro, a small family business run by parents and sons started from 1850 in a beautiful mountain plateau in Trentino Alto Adige (Italy) :
Always open is the garden where the owners have set up an educational path among flowers and medicinal and aromatic plants: simply walking we can know for each plant its active ingredient, its fragrance and other characteristics.
Here my virtual 360° walk on this very fragrant garden : the cultivation of aromatic and officinal plants…
These are some of the most used plants for the preparation of creams and herbal teas:
Malva sylvestris (emollient, anti-inflammatory and laxative properties)
a close up of the bee
Lavandula angustifolia (antispasmodic, antiseptic, diuretic properties) :
Origanum volgare (antiseptic, digestive, stomachic properties) :
Nettle (antianemic, healing and toning properties) :
And this other beautiful flowers of this garden:
Working bees…
After this close contact with the bees I learned to know them better and not to be afraid of them (for the wasps instead the fear remains!), the important thing is not to disturb them and never put yourself in front of their hive: they can see you as a threat!
Here my review of this place .
I would like to conclude my post with this beautiful poem by Kahlil Gibran:
“Go to your fields and your gardens, and you shall learn that it is the pleasure of the bee to gather honey of the flower, but it is also the pleasure of the flower to yield its honey to the bee. For to the bee a flower is a fountain of life, and to the flower a bee is a messenger of love"
Thanks for reading and eat more honey!
David
