If you follow my farm blog, you know how concerned I am about the plight of the honey bees. I appreciate their importance to our existence. I am deeply saddened by how few honey bees have been spotted around the farm the last couple of years. It is a cause near and dear to me.
Last week, Hubby and I took a mini-vacation to Pigeon Forge / Gatlinburg, TN. We loved going to the crafters' village to see all the lovely, locally-made items. We picked up a few for souvenirs. One of the craft stores was a jewelry place. They had leaves and fir twigs plated in copper, silver and gold. I don't wear a lot of jewelry, but decided that those items were such a novelty and a true souvenir of the mountains that I decided to purchase something.
When I saw these earrings, I just had to have them!
Yes, those are real honey bees! ...covered in gold! As we were leaving for home the next day, the honey bees were heavy on my mind... What was I thinking? These were most likely not made from dead honey bees that had lived a full life and, feeling the end was near, sat themselves down at the door of the crafter's shop. No. More likely, they were flying around, happily doing what bees do so that the rest of us can eat wonderful fruits and vegetables, when some artist plucked them from their world and dipped them in molten metal.
I have a huge appreciation of artist, and the people involved in this particular shop are no exception. They took bits of nature and preserved them in a delicate and stunning way. The vast majority of the items were from vegetation and not animal life. As a matter of fact, I don't recall but two items of the animal variety, and I purchased one of them!
What have I done? I have given them a market for this endeavor. Will God ever forgive me? Will I forgive myself?
I rationalize it by the fact that the bee jewelry is the tiniest fraction of their creations, and they are but one artist in a community of artists. I'm quite sure the bee population is not adversely affected by their activities. Still, I believe it was murder...
