What is behind the mysterious bee phenomenon who do not cover God's face with their beehives

Time of India

25-05-2025

While science has completely different ways to prove the mysteries in the world, spirituality and religious faith in God has its own unique and mysterious connection that has been found not in churches or monasteries, but in beehives this time.
Near Athens, in Greece, a devout beekeeper has been doing something unusual for over a decade. Rather than treating his hives as mere honey-producing boxes, he sees them as sacred spaces. Every spring, he lovingly places icons of Christ, the Virgin Mary, and various saints inside his beehives, hoping to bless the bees and their harvest and what follows is magic!
They construct honeycombs around the icons, carefully avoiding the images themselves.
What is the mystery all about?
For more than ten years, Isidoros Ţiminis, a Catholic beekeeper from Kapandriti, a town near Athens, has followed a heartfelt tradition. Every spring, he gently places small religious icons pictures of Jesus, the Virgin Mary, and different saints inside his beehives. He does this to bless his bees and to pray for a good honey harvest each year.
It might sound like a small gesture, but what happens next is truly amazing.
by Taboola
by Taboola
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As the bees build their honeycombs, they carefully work around the icons. They never cover the faces or bodies in the pictures. Somehow, the bees leave the images untouched, as if they know these icons are special and should be protected.
A curious and recurrent pattern
Observers have questioned whether the bees might be reacting to the material or scent of the icons, but there's no conclusive explanation. The repeated pattern of behavior, across different hives and years, has led to spiritual interpretations.
As reported by Aleteia, this was further documented by a monk named Simon, who attempted the same practice. He introduced a handmade icon of the Crucified Christ flanked by the two thieves into one of the hives. The bees built their hive around the icon but 'refused to cover either Jesus or the figure of the 'good thief,' at Christ's right hand,' wrote Simon. The thief on Christ's left, who rejected salvation, was, however, completely covered in wax.
There were other instances put to the test!
The bees' selective reverence didn't end there. Monk Simon also tested another image, this time of St. Stephen the Proto-Martyr. Once again, the bees kept the saint's face and body untouched by the comb. These consistent patterns suggest something more than coincidence, yet the mystery remains as to how or why the bees exhibit such behavior.
There are no clear answers, and perhaps there never will be. But as the years go by, these bees continue their silent homage to sacred images in their own unique way.