Inherent Wisdom

Yesterday Glenn and I checked out a brand new Nepalese restaurant that just opened in downtown Asheville, Katmandu Cafe. Much to our extreme delight, the restaurant surpassed our expectations on just about every front (the pillowy naan, people-THE NAAN! I DIE!). Whenever I find a business, service, product, or individual that truly shines, I share it. I Tweet it, or mention it on Facebook, or talk about it here, or tell anyone who will listen. If you've wowed me, I want others to know. 

In a different, albeit mildly similar manner, honey bees also traffic in information. When a foraging honey bee finds a payload of nectar, it returns to the hive and begins dancing feverishly. As told in the video above, the bee who discovered the sweet haul tells its hive-mates, with wild precision, where they too might share the bounty. Using the sun as a compass, the bee who made the discovery uses inherent wisdom to communicate, through her movements, where her sisters should head. 

In a beehive, everything is shared. There is no such thing as greed when interdependence prevails. The hive is a symbiotic organism, where every bee's actions ensures the entire hive's success or failure. As I work on the "Keeping Bees" book, the fourth in the Homemade Living series, I continue to find myself enthralled by the inherent wisdom of these tiny creatures. Their model for living is one that humanity would do well to mimic. Beneficial co-dependency can be a beautiful thing, when all parties involved are working towards the highest, greatest good.