By Andy Swinford, Sept 2022
The HOD bees have been most prolific since they took up residence in the shiny new palace built for them by Brother Loarne and the team on a corner of the plot across the stream. So far this year we have taken 70kg of honey!
To our dismay one hive turned rather aggressive over the summer and several people received stings. The only way to sort this is to replace the queen. This is because it’s the queen that sets the temperament of the whole hive. I’m glad to report the colony has accepted its new monarch – here she is looking very healthy and charging about the hive like nobody’s business. If you think she’s wearing a gold crown, that’s the splodge of yellow paint recognised for designating queens reared in 2022. I’d like to point out I took 14 stings to my right hand in pursuit of this photograph. How I suffer for my art.
This reminds me of our own Queen Elizabeth II who throughout her marvellous reign provided much of the flavour of her kingdom. Her stand for faith and all high virtues in our nation has been extraordinary. We have been so blessed to have her. I am writing this while watching the proclamation of the new monarch at St James’ Palace. The flavour now will be different, though also good I believe.
It’s the same of course with King Jesus. If we ever wonder what the kingdom of heaven actually looks like, we need only look at the life of its King. The theologian Origen said he is ‘auto basilea’, which means something like ‘the kingdom in himself’. He sets the tone for the whole thing.
Long live the King!
