Greetings and blessings to you, my Brothers. I am Bro. J. Silverdahl, of Sollie Mitchell #377, located in the jurisdiction of the Most Worshipful Union Grand Lodge of Florida, Free and Accepted Mason, Prince Hall Affiliated. I was tasked by our Worshipful Master, Bro. E. Mitchell (no relation) to do a lecture on one of the oldest and seldom discussed emblems of Freemasonry; the Beehive. However, I will not discuss the history of the emblem, nor how it came to be a part of our Master's Carpet. To do so, I feel, would rob our lodge's beloved and esteemed Past Master Urso of his hard work having already dove into the background and history behind this symbol of ours, which can be read in the Masonic Observer. Instead, I want to break it down from the scientific, geometric, and spiritual aspects, to tie in to how it applies to us not only in our Masonic work, but in our every day lives, which should not be mutually exclusive.

The bee is an extraordinary creature. The colony is made up of thousands of individuals functioning as a whole, who never sleep and dividing their labors, work tirelessly through out the short span of their existence, pollinating the world around them and bringing home the nectar they have collected during the course of their labors, and their divided work benefiting their hive as a whole.

They have long been, until recent discoveries, considered impossible creatures defying all logic as it was often thought due to their proportions they should be unable to achieve flight. Lo and behold, however, they achieve what was thought impossible of them, flying over 5 miles to work, and some flying even further, upwards of 10 miles, to mate with a virgin queen (Let us not ignore what is implied here). During times of attack, bees have been known to swarm against their foe, and through the strength of their numbers, protect the hive they have worked so hard to create. They are social creatures, communicating to one another through dance, informing each other where danger may lay or where sustenance may be bountiful.

Science tells us now the importance of such a small creature long thought by the unlearned to be insignificant. They pollinate most of the crops we eat and many of the plants and vegetation animals depend upon. Like Hiram, the work of the bee is most important and its absence would deliver a crucial blow to the world.

So let us consider this in Masonic form. The bee that pollinates the crops we eat and the vegetation animals benefit from, could only be seen in no other way than that of a Mason, who travels to foreign lands, where he would work and his work should be beneficial to the area he is found in. The nectar the bee brings home could only be seen as Master's Wages, that Light we bring home to our family, to our friends, to our community. That we would nurture them. That they may grow from it.

Masons have accomplished impossible tasks, from rebuilding temples to starting new nations. During times of attack, not just physical in nature, we have been known to swarm en mass, to lend that Brother our relief and aide, to protect him and his own, showing John 15:13 ever rings true, "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." Finally, we communicate to one another the danger that may lay ahead when we recognize a Brother in err, and as always, our hearts and tongue combine, not only to promote each others welfare but to rejoice in each others success.

Bees, accumulative, do all this. Interestingly, the honeybee as three social casts, each with a specific role, or set of, who as stated earlier, divide the labor inside their colony. Similarly, we as Masons have our own caste system, separated in three, where we divide the labor among each other to benefit the Lodge as a whole, and just as each bee has their own unique job, so too does each Mason have his own unique job. It is through the execution of each job that the hive benefits, that the Lodge benefits. I, of course, refer not only to the jobs of the principal officers, but to every member of this body, every committee, every station, who carries out their tasks to benefit this hive; Our Lodge.

We move on from the scientific aspect to the geometric and spiritual aspects of the hive. The emblem we often see delineated on the Master's Carpet is what is called a skep hive, that is a straw or wicker beehive, sat on the ground, the base being wider than the top. We could simplify this to a basic geometric shape, that of the triangle, or delta. Let us consider then the apron, in which we see the triangle through out our many travels, from the youngest Entered Apprentice, to the oldest of Master Masons. We could then assume that we are exposed to, in some fashion, the bee hive ever since we begun our journey, tasked as bearers of burden to lend our hands to work for the benefit of the hive.

The triangle representing the Trinity has been emblematic of the great I Am. The Trinity, as we know, is the fullness of God: The Father, The Son, and the Holy Spirit. It would be no accident that one of the most crucial creatures on this planet should reside in such a holy emblem.

When looking inside of the beehive at the honeycomb, we notice the hexagon, a notable shape of six sides. A curious shape where we could connect points in such a way that it would give us the Square and Compass, or we could call this shape a shape of eternity, for if you connect the lines between the Square and Compass, you are given the six pointed star, the star of David, or the Seal of Solomon, who inside lays another hexagon, that we can draw once again the same emblem, forever and always.

Even when looking at the skep hive from the top down, we should see a circle, a shape that has neither beginning nor end. A shape emblematic of rebirth and the cycle of life. Shakespeare had once said of bees: "Our thighs packed with wax, our mouths with honey, We bring it to the hive ,and, like the bees, Are murdered for our pains", his commentary on the common practice in bee keeping at that time, that the hive would be murdered for their honey. Yet bees continue their work, continue to rebuild, and the cycle continue.

Were I to stretch this, and I will, I would consider then the wax Shakespeare mentioned as building tools of the hive. Wax is used to create their combs in which they lay eggs and store honey, which we know to be sweet. Connect that to Jesus, who was a carpenter's son and built for us a way through him to the Father. His mouth filled with the sweet honey of Truth, he was crucified for his pains, only to be resurrected.

The beehive can only then, through triangle or circle, be considered to have been created as an image of Him who is called I Am, just as we, as men, were created in His image. That is to say, no creature is so insignificant that He can not be found in them and so, no man should be considered so insignificant as not worth our help.

There are no accidents in Freemasonry. It is all by grand design. Consider each emblem on the Master's Carpet, reflect upon their meaning, what you know them to be, and then look further still. Remember that we are a beautiful system of morality, veiled in allegory, and illustrated by symbols. Symbols which are only given meaning by the "Bee"holder.