World Bee Day

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Aristaeus is the son of Apollo and the huntress Cyrene. He was raised by nymphs, from whom he learned the  rustic arts of  bee-keeping, mead-making, and cheese-making. He also studied with the centaur Chiron, from whom he learned the selection and uses of medicinal herbs. Aristaeus taught these arts to humanity and was widely revered as a benevolent deity.

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Today, May 20, has been designated World Bee Day by the United Nations! 

Bees and other pollinators, such as butterflies, bats and hummingbirds, are increasingly under threat from human activities.

You can help by:

• planting a diverse set of native plants, which flower at different times of the year
• buying honey from local farmers
• buying products from sustainable agricultural practices
• avoiding pesticides, fungicides or herbicides in our gardens
• protecting wild bee colonies when possible
• sponsoring a hive
• making a bee water fountain by leaving a water bowl outside
• helping sustaining forest ecosystems
• raising awareness around us by sharing this information within our communities and networks

The decline of bees affects us all!

World Bee Day information from: https://www.un.org/en/observances/bee-day

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Featured Image: Antinous as Aristaeus Roman, 2nd century C.E. Collection of the Musee du Louvre, Paris. Photo of statue by Marie-Lan Nguyen via Wikimedia Commons (X). Image license: Public Domain. Background: Honeycomb via peakpix.com (X) Background image license: Creative Commons Zero – CC0

Antinous is recognizable in this sculpture by his classic facial features and curly hair. The statue is slightly over life size – 196 cm (6 ft. 5 in.) – in height, and  is standing in a contraposto pose with the weight on the left leg and the right knee slightly bent, gaze directed at the viewer. He wears a exomis, the traditional short tunic worn by workers in ancient Greece, which could be lowered to leave one or both shoulders uncovered – here, it is knotted at the left shoulder, leaving his right upper chest and shoulder bare. The exomis is bloused at the waist over a knotted cloth belt. He also wears a petasos, the ancient Greek sun hat with a full brim all the way around, and boots or high sandals. He holds a long-handled garden implement (maybe an axe, considering the trimmed tree stump next to his left leg) with his right hand, balanced over his right shoulder, and holds a short, leafy branch in his left hand.

I placed the uncropped image in the center of a public-domain photo of dripping honeycomb.

Gratuitous fact: Cardinal Richelieu purchased this statue in Rome for his personal collection. It was seized by the government during the French Revolution.

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