Be prepared for a feel-good moment. I first met Mark Luterra and his partner, Liz, two years ago in Corvallis, Oregon. At the time, Mark took me through his apiary and prepared a list of beekeepers I should meet on my visit to the Willamette Valley. I could see Mark was intelligent and passionate about his work, but I was clueless about his hidden talents until this morning when I played this video.
Mark writes:
“We finally got around to finishing this project. It started as a song in February 2012, hoping that our first two beehives would make it through the winter (they didn’t…). The music video idea came in April 2013, and I did most of the video editing in the Denver airport. Then we moved, and the bees moved, and the project was mostly forgotten until now.”
I listened to his song four or fives times this morning and have been humming ever since. The lyrics are printed below, and if you would like to know more about Mark, he writes a blog called Musings from Mark that centers around nature, sustainability, energy, agriculture, and mead.
I hope you enjoy the video as much as I did. Let me know what you think!
Rusty
HoneyBeeSuite
A Song of the Bees
by Markael Luterra
Published on Jan 2, 2015
Lyrics:
Sing a song of the bees
Thousands as one
Led by a queen
Bees by the thousands they are workin together
Bringin nectar and pollen whatever the weather
Gotta keep the queen fed layin two eggs a minute
For the next generation, the sky’s the limit
Coevolution we see
Flowers and bees
Nectar for fertile seeds
We pop off the top to inspect the brood
White larvae and eggs mean that things are all good
We try to avoid the end with the stinger
But every now and then we still get stung on the finger
Stung on the finger!
Put some ice on that sting
Cool down the burn
Easing the suffering
Got varroa and nosema and now tracheal mites
Its a mess with all these pests we might just give up the fight
But no disease will kill my bees cause I take care of my hives
And through the winter into April they will still be alive
Still be alive
My bees are alive!
(Piano interlude)
In the summer they’ll be haulin in the honey like a beast
And then in August we’ll collect it and we’ll have a great feast
With lots of mead and pie and honeycomb and cookies too
And we’ll still have enough to give honey to you
Honey to you
(Flute interlude)
Sing a song of the bees
Thousands as one
Led by a queen
Coevolution we see
Flowers and bees
Nectar for fertile seeds.
Great lyrics and catchy tune. Good Job.
Great! We should sing songs to our trees, flowers, all beneficial insects, all life, our precious planet, universe… appeciation, reverence, love, joy…yes, yes, yes.
I would buy all cd’s dvds; let’s get real what life is really about and our true role, appreciation, reverence & care taking!
Some other praises being sung:
https://resonatingbodies.wordpress.com/art/odes/
The organization doesn’t seem very active right now — colony collapse hits human populations too. But I’ve liked how they play with sound.
Glen
Adorable!
Really well done. The bright cheery nature of the song, with parts quieter and slower than others, is reminiscent of the foraging of bees as they fly between flowers and stay longer when gathering nectar. Who would have thought to sing about bee activity!
Sounds like my experience!!
Love it.
Love it! Thanks for sharing. I’ll be humming this for quite a while.
Seeing the video of bees at the beginning made me yearn for summer!
Corny but cute—a song about bees.
Something that needs to be shared. A little ray of hope!
Watch Paul Stamets’ talk about saving the bees with mushrooms. He really needs support on this very important endeavor.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAw_Zzge49c
A fascinating and unique individual who not only bee keepers and entomologists, but the whole of society should treasure, his knowledge is genuinely invaluable.
Paul Stamlets as an individual should be treasured.
Nicely done, thanks for sharing.
Great music. It is 2017 and I just found this on the web site!!!
Hi Jesslyn,
I love this recording and play it often.
God bless you and all you do with this website. Second year beekeeper here and I like playing this music to my bees while I work in the apiary. I’ve seen a waggle dance or two as a result. Only kidding I know that the music has nothing to do with them doing the waggle dance but it just seems kind of funny to say it.
I’m glad you (and your bees) like it. I do too.
Absolutely love the song❣️
Very upbeat and fun❣️ Keep up the the good work. Bee ? seeing you around❣️ Bahaahaa ?
Great job… You could translate to spanish! Txs
Makes one want to get up and waggle dance!
Especially love the buzzy a cappella harmonies at the end.
Love the song! I was looking for something like that for my students! Our rural K-12 school in South Dakota just became beekeepers as a school-wide project. We won a grant (SD Ag Dept. block grant for specialty Ag crops. What a hoot! Bees are now classified as “livestock” by the US Dept. of Ag.) that supplies all the materials, including bees, and some training for “we three bee ladies” + ongoing mentoring support. Combing the I’net for materials I can use to teach about bees. Kids are excited to learn about bees.