How the universe saw fit to put beekeeping, feng shui, and a skilled woman on one lucky man’s path.
May, 1989, and nine of us find ourselves standing in a lush, almost unbearably beautiful location in Aregua, Paraguay. We freshly arrived in this South American country just a couple days before, green as can be, and excited to be so. We are the beekeeping trainees in this latest group of agriculture volunteers to arrive for the Peace Corps.
Conrad, our apiculture instructor, tells us how vitally important honeybees are to the ecology of a whole region which they inhabit. That they not only live in harmony with the environment but actually help to create the harmony in the world they inhabit. When we walk closer to the hives every one of us can feel the energy lift. Each of us to a person can’t help but smile and take a deep breath, as if the hives are a power source, a source of chi.
In a climate such as Paraguay’s, honeybees will build their honeycomb wherever they see fit: in the cavity of a tree, hanging from vines, even in a hole in the ground. But it intrigues me when Conrad explains where to best place a hive of your own. He says to imagine if you wanted to build a house in a nice protected and fertile area. Place your hive:
- On the side of a hill with the entrance facing south.
- Put no obstructions in front of the main entrance.
- If possible there’s some buffer on either side like a tree or bushes.
- Behind the hive should be trees, bushes or a fence.
This makes perfect sense to me.
September, 2000, and I find myself as only one of three men in a room of maybe fifty women, and excited to be so. The first day of The New England School of Feng Shui, and our teacher Amy starts teaching about Form School feng shui. She explains the most auspicious placement of a building:
- A mountain in the back.
- Rolling hills to the sides.
- Open in the front.
- Preferably facing south.
I think to myself, “Oh, just like you’d place a hive.”
June, 2001, I graduate from The New England School of Feng Shui. When teaching either feng shui or beekeeping today, I relate how one has helped me with the other. Feng shui is immensely important in keeping bees. Conversely, there’s so much we can learn about feng shui from the honeybees, from their awesomely efficient use of space, to their love of harmony with their surroundings, to their unceasing desire to clear clutter! Yes, bees are constantly clearing clutter. And the fabulous energy of the honeybees, along with the hive products they produce, clean and lift our own energy and the energy of our environment like you wouldn’t believe.
As featured in Conscious Design Magazine
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