When I used to walk with my friend Mary, she sometimes stopped, closed her eyes, and said, “Listen.”

What? I didn’t hear anything, not at first. But a moment later, the hum of bees would reach my ear.

Mary resisted hurrying on. Instead, we stood listening, on a town sidewalk or on a hiking trail, and as the sound seeped into me, so did a sense of peace.

Mary, an intuitive person, grasped something that folks ancient and modern have believed. The sound of bees can heal us.

Slovenia has a high density of bees compared to other countries. A fire department there recognized the stresses firefighters face—accidents, casualties and disasters, along with fighting fires. The department employed psychological help, but wanted to add something else to promote relaxation. The station took up beekeeping.

Firefighters believe that the sound of bees calms them. “The fragrance the bees emit is also healing,” a firefighter said. Another said, “The demand for mitigating talks after difficult accidents has diminished. The atmosphere is different, more positive.”  

At some Slovenian schools, students coexist with bee colonies. Teachers send restless students to care for the bees, and it calms the child.

A beekeeper in Rochester, Massachusetts, has constructed a shed above her hives, where visitors can seek rest. The visitor lies on a wooden bench, separated from the bees by wire mesh, and lets go of tension. The beekeeper says the visitor departs with more energy, and she believes the sound helps asthma, insomnia, high blood pressure, and other maladies. Similar places can be found in California.

Ulleotherapy, the practice of sleeping above bees, is common in Russia as well as in Ukraine, China, Japan, Korea, and Canada. In America, the practice usually is called bee therapy, or sleeping with bees. 

Proponents say many factors combine to provide a state of healing for the body. The micro-vibration created by bees fanning their wings, to evaporate moisture from the nectar, is one factor. For the person sleeping above the hive, it is like a light vibro-massage, acting positively on the nervous, circulatory, and muscular system.

Clean, ionized air, as in ionotherapy, is created in the hive and inhaled by the patient sleeping above. The air comes through a fine mesh screen. Advocates suggest that microbes in bronchi and lungs are killed during ten minutes of inhalation. 

Aromatherapy offered by the smell of nectar, honey, and propolis, all create a relaxed atmosphere, inducing sleep for many participants. 

Bee buzzing induces a mild, meditative trance. Supporters claim this balances the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems, and removes fatigue, stress, and tension. Physical and emotional relaxation trigger an improved emotional state.   

Proponents say that numerous studies have reported positive effects in rheumatic, dermatological, urology, gynecology, cardiology, endocrinology, and respiratory systems, as well as the musculoskeletal system. Some say it cures chronic diseases, normalizes potency in men, and eliminates insomnia. 

I couldn’t find these studies. Maybe a longer search of the internet would have uncovered one.  

Claims for the benefits of sleeping with bees may be exaggerated or may be right on. But those of us who like bees can probably agree on this. Taking time to sit beside a hive, or beneath a blooming fruit tree, humming with bees—just listening—might be the most soul-nourishing thing we do that day.   

Photo by Art Rachen/Unsplashed

When I hear a hard-to-believe story or theory, I check with Snopes to see if it is real.  And when someone tells me about a miracle cure, I search for lab studies that back up the claim.    

But when it comes to honey, I love hearing the opinions and experiences of regular folks. A belief that has not been tested in a laboratory can still be valid.   

While waiting for a friend at a coffee shop, a cheerful man at the next table wearing a Vietnam veteran hat started telling me his recipe for good health. Honey. A tablespoon every morning. The man buys expensive manuka honey, which is loaded with healthful properties, but gets it at Costco where the price isn’t as steep.

“I feel great. I have longtime medical issues, but they don’t slow me down. Honey helps many systems in the body. I have a positive mental attitude, too, which honey has played a part in.”

A woman I knew suffered from severe allergies and asthma, year after year. She went from one specialist to another. One doctor advised her to find a source of local honey, which she did. After taking it for a while, she experienced the best spring she could remember.

A man who owns a thriving honey company here said he depends on a spoonful of honey every day for health. He takes his at night.

 “Our brains work all night. I want to send my brain nourishment, so I take a spoonful of honey at bedtime. I sleep like a child.”

 Here are other testimonials I have heard or read.

A man who had chronic digestive issues since he was a child had tried enzymes and probiotics and all kinds of cures. But honey worked for him, and right away. He felt like a new man within a week.   

Several people report that they apply honey to cuts, even deep ones, and the area heals without scarring.

A family that has various ailments, including high cholesterol, diabetes, an anxiety disorder, and high blood pressure enjoys breakfast together, one that is healthful for all of them. Oats cooked with raisins and cinnamon. When it cools slightly, they add honey.  

A woman makes sure her 89-year-old mother has a teaspoon of honey three times a day.

Some people report honey aids with weight loss. They say their cravings for sweets went away when they added honey to their diet. Some mix the honey with other ingredients like lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, or ginger, and subsequently lose weight. Sometimes 20 pounds or so.   

Many rely on honey and tea to quiet coughs. When my children were little, our general practitioner told me that no cough medicine from the store could equal honey and hot tea.  

I appreciate that prestigious laboratories are studying honey and its health benefits. I’m happy their findings back up what people for centuries have believed—that honey is a boon for humans, because it is delicious, and also contributes to human well-being. Science bolsters honey’s reputation.  

Still, you can’t beat a personal story from someone who credits honey for a positive impact on their health. That person is apt to care about bees and their welfare.    

I converted part of my lawn to native, pollinator friendly plants so my bees don’t have to go searching for flowers, or forage where plants have been sprayed with harmful chemicals.

But some folks are replacing lawns and restoring native plants for a selfless reason—to create miniature sanctuaries where native plants, insects, birds, and small mammals can thrive.

Natural spaces perform vital functions. They provide for the food web, supply clean water, pull carbon out of the air, and shelter native insects, pollinators, birds, and animals. 

We in the West take public spaces for granted. Many of us live within easy driving distance of great expanses of open land or forest. It surprises us to learn that ninety-five percent of the natural landscapes in the U.S. have been transformed. In the lower 48, half of the land holds cities and streets, airports and shopping malls. Farms cover much of the other half. Only about 13 percent of U.S. land enjoys some kind of protection.

That is not enough to sustain wildlife, birds, and insects. In half a century, 3 billion, or 30 percent of the bird population, has disappeared. The loss of insects, including beneficial ones, has been staggering. Caterpillars who turn into beautiful butterflies depend on certain native species, and cannot reproduce amid ornamental plants and invasive species.

Ecologists, botanists, and nature lovers want to persuade owners of private land, which makes up 83 percent of the total, to turn their yards into miniature national parks. That can range from tiny plots, even container gardens, to corporate headquarters and school campuses. One proposal sees half of the 40 million acres of lawn in the United States returned to native plants and trees.

Doug Tallamy, author of the Homegrown National Park concept, said, “Our national parks, no matter how grand in scale, are too small and separated from one another to preserve species to the levels needed.” The Homegrown National Park idea is a bottom-up call to action, to restore habitat where we are, creating wee national parks in our yards and neighborhoods. Tallamy says, “Our landscapes must enable ecosystems to produce the life support we and every other species requires.”

 Activists concede it will take time, and advise converting one area of property at a time. They offer suggestions for how to make changes acceptable to neighbors and home owner associations (HOAs). Put a curving walkway through a native plant area. Leave areas of manicured lawn around borders. A small, inexpensive fence around native plants signals that the plants are intentional. Trim bushes.  

 Some places have weakened HOAs. Maryland law prevents HOAs from prohibiting environmentally friendly yards, and other states and some cities have similar laws, or are considering them.

Mini wildlands would change the outlook for our honeybees and for native bees.

In 1949, Aldo Leopold, the father of modern conservation, urged us to have an ethic that allows us to see land as more than a commodity.

“When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect.”