Sharron's Blog: HUMMINGBIRD WARS & THE AMAZING HONEYBEE

 Friday, July 22, 2022

Today I was watching hummingbirds fighting over the feeders at my bedroom window, and even though I had two feeders, there were hummie wars going on. As I watched them chasing each other away, greedily claiming that nectar as their own, not willing to share one drop with a fellow hungry neighbor, I noticed a hugh swarm of honeybees had suddenly appeared out of no where, took over both feeders! Suddenly their personal hummy wars didn't seem important. They wanted their feeder back and the bees were chasing them off!  

I was indignant as I have a special affection for hummingbirds from age five, due to a near death experience. I was very sick, in critical condition with a very bad bladder infection that my Grandmother overlooked one summer as she cared for us while my mother and father drove 18-wheelers from Florida to New York all summer. My Grandmother did not want to take me to a doctor as we had no insurance and she had no money. This was way before cell phones were even thought about [69 years ago] but when I started slipping away, became unresponsive and burning up with high fever, she took me to the hospital. There was no way to contact my parents, she had to wait for them to call her. 

I was put into intensive care and Grandma was told if I made it through the night it would be by the grace of God and prayer. When I finally became responsive and fever left, I remembered a dream or vision [only God knows which] I related to my grandmother: I dreamt I was in a cloud somewhere between heaven and earth with Jesus and I had on a very simple, white gown and he had his arm around me as I was crying. He began telling me where he was taking me and that in this place I would be very happy, I would never be sick again, I would never remember the things that hurt me or made me sad and asked: "So little one, why are you crying... I'm going to wipe away all your tears" and at that he took his hands and placed them on my face and with his thumbs wiped away my tears.  Well this made me cry all the more as I recalled my mother and asked to go back and tell her about heaven so she could go too. My mother was the dearest thing in my life and I couldn't imagine being anywhere she was not going to be.  As I told my Grandmother about this experience she told me: "Sharron, I think the Lord may have a special plan for your life, a special calling". The nurse took me and sat me outside in a garden under a tree filled with flowers and told me that if I was very quiet I may see and hear hummingbirds up in that tree!  They were so fast and small I only heard them but could not see them, but I have loved hummingbirds every since! 

So when these honeybees swarmed my feeders, and chased away my birds, I declared war! There seemed to be a serious shortage of hummingbirds from reports posted in our "Next door Neighbor watch" as people were concerned they usually had them but none had appeared, and here the Lord blessed me with hummie wars! 

As I watched these bees, at first I thought they were yellow jackets, and Googled the difference between them, to help me identify them. If yellow jackets, war was going to be declared, but if honeybees, mercy would be given due to shortages and bees were dying off due to pesticides, and they make precious honey, pollinate nature! After all, God told Moses he was taking Israel to a land flowing with "milk and honey". I'm living in a city [Temple GA] litterly flowing with both... there are goats, sheep, many cattle farms,  and many other farm animals everywhere you turn! 

As I began to watch the bees, I decided to perhaps draw them away with some nectar and maybe that would free up feeders, so took a small bowl of the nectar and placed it in the same place as feeders and placed a small chunk of wood so bees would not drown, moved feeders away for a bit, to see what would happen. The honeybees swarmed when they discovered the bowl of nectar easier to get access to. But this is the part that amazed me... the title of this blog, as while watching them drink this nectar, they kept falling into the nectar and seemed to get stuck, trying desperately to get out but kept frantically spinning on their backs trying to get out. I wanted to help but started noticing every time a bee fell in the sweet liquid, a fellow bee jumped in on top of the drowning bee, and at first I thought it was attacking the poor thing, [kicking a man while he's down] but noticed it helped lift the distressed bee out. Every time a bee fell into this liquid, another fellow bee would jump in and "lay down his own life for his fellow hive mate! Not one bee drowned,  every bee received help when they slipped in, while attempting to drink this sweet nectar! 

I thought, why can't we learn from God's creation, even nature itself teaches there is a creator! Honeybees can have compassion on fellow hive members that slip up and risk their own lives to rescue each other... every time! Not one bee died in that liquid, why can't humans do likewise?  They seemed to know I was a friend as when they consumed all the nectar, I went out to put more in their dish and they left me alone as if they were aware of what I was doing. 

I am so amazed at our Heavenly Father's creation, I just wanted to share this insight with you. God's amazing little honeybees, who knew?

SCRIPTURES

1 John 3:16 KJV — Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

John 15:13 KJV — Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

1 John 4:7 NKJV — Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.

1 Peter 3:8 NKJV — Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous;

John 13:35 NKJV — “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Ecclesiastes 4: 9 Two are better than one, Because they have a good reward for their labor. 10 For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, For he has no one to help him up. 11 Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm; But how can one be warm alone? 12 Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.