Bees can sting painfully but they also can pollinate plants and provide sweet honey. Like many things in the world, they can be both a threat and a gift; a curse and a blessing. With appropriate caution we can avoid bee stings; with appropriate support we can be treated if we do get stung; and with an appropriate sense of wonder we can appreciate the sweet taste of honey and the beauty of nature. Not for nothing is Israel the land of milk and honey; without bees, there would be (bee?) no honey.
Devarim Rabbah (1:6) says that just as a bee’s honey is sweet and its sting is bitter, so too are the words of Torah. The explanation is that just as the bee has honey for her master and a sting for others, so too the words of Torah. They are a medicine of life to Israel, and a medicine of death for those that worship idols.
The flowers and fruit get the glory, but without the pollination help from bees, they wouldn’t bloom. Sometimes what looks dangerous, like a bee, can turn out to be a blessing.
