The old German word bien is an attempt to describe this oneness and define it as one being. The bien is one being in countless bodies. The colony is thus both a society of thousands of individuals as well as one super-organism. What is so fascinating is that there are two fundamentally different systems which merge and depend upon one another. The multitude of all the single bees creates one being with capacities far beyond those of each individual bee. The bien, on the other hand, is the environment which gives rise to this alchemical change from the single individual to a higher life form, in which the formerly independent units are melted or forged into a new gestalt. As a highly evolved matrix of life, the bien provides a preview into the possibilities for the development of human consciousness …. .

There is a threefold feature of the bien, consisting of the queen, the female bees, and the drones; and these can be seen as three fundamental functional principals of life, and three ways of being. We can find them in embryonic development as the three germ layers (primary tissue layers) of endo-, meso- and ectoderm. All body tissues arise out of these. Once we are aware of the oneness of this super-organism, we realize that the bien breathes as one, maintains one social uterus, possesses one skeleton (comb) and maintains one collective metabolism. 

Bees gives themselves completely to the wellbeing of the bien. Their physical existence is completely devoted to its prosperity and survival. In the altruistic gesture of self-sacrifice we can see the extent to which bees transcend their individual existence. In fact, their sense of self includes all the other bees, encompassing the entire bien. One may wonder whether the bees’ sense of a group ‘I’ is experienced in a mode of consciousness far removed from our own rational consciousness: as a dance of all elements of the bien, a harmonious dance of all individual physical elements and energies. The wisdom at work in the colony can easily begin to resonate in our own hearts. The bien can become a metaphor for interconnection between ourselves and the world, making the unity of our life palpable for us. The bien can change our sense of who we think we are, and instill in us a wish to serve a higher good..

The bees are a melting pot for paradigms, thwarting any easy attempts at categorization and asking us, ever anew, to come into flow in our thinking and feeling. The bien joins what seems separate (spirit and matter, wave and particle), and can open the heart to a new sense of self. This goes far beyond linear thinking and can inspire and open our mind. The way we see the world is only one model of reality. The bien encourages us to stay open for the vastness of existence. This depth, this inner relationship to the bien, is a gift our ancestors knew how to value.

Apiculture can become a spiritual path, a journey into the great fullness of life, and it can deepen our personal practice of meditation. The bien can be a kind of apitherapy for the soul and inspire us at many levels. In his bee lectures, Rudolf Steiner describes the bien as imbued with love-pervaded life. To meet them at that level, and to be touched by them, will show a new way of being with bees and a new way of being in this world.

Apiculture is beginning a transformation towards a wholesome way of living with bees. New voices are emerging. The bien is calling.

In his bee lectures, Rudolf Steiner concludes that ‘…we need to study the life of bees from the standpoint of the soul’. In the end, the world shows us whenever the soul element is missing in our lives. The current plight of the bees is showing us the impact of our limited understanding. The bees are reflecting back to us our own struggle to live in this world. Their encouraging message is to wake up to this fragile, wonderful and precious world, to awaken to a multidimensional world and to the unlimited world of the heart. May we all wake up!”