The Universal Language of Freemasonry - ArchiMeD - Johannes ...

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Chapter 4 - Signs & Symbols
Simons' Standard Masonic Monitor from 1888 even compares the bee to the
never-resting God, thus setting an example for man: "It represents God as ever
working to diffuse more of beauty and order, goodness and justice, throughout
the world which he has formed, and solemnly urges man to follow the divine
example." 633
In the Masonic Review, vol. XII of the year 1855, there is a warning against
impostors written by the editor in a short report headed "Traveling Drones," in
which he admonished the Craft not to give money and help to begging persons
before thoroughly having examined them as to their Masonic status. In this
report, the editor relates his personal experience with such a malingerer,
apparently a brother in distress, who was bold enough to apply to several
Masonic bodies in a row for the same reasons and was found to be undeserving:
And just such are a large majority of those travelers who apply to the
Craft for assistance. The really needy and meritorious should never be
refused assistance while Masons have hearts to feel or hands to help; but
these lazy, idle, vicious, swindling drones should be summarily dealt
with. The old principle was, give them work; and the law is, "if they will
not work, neither shall they eat." More than half the amount drained
from our charitable funds, are expended on hale and hearty men that
will not work - as long as they are successful in begging. 634
Albert Pike also uses this image of drones as a metaphor for idlers and loafers
in The Meaning of Masonry: "As the bees have no love for drones, so true
Masons have none for the idle and lazy [...]. 635
According to TRMC, besides being an emblem of industry, the beehive has a
totally different esoteric meaning, that of regeneration, and it is also considered a
type of the ark. 636 Mackenzies Royal Masonic Cyclopaedia quotes a source
which claims that ancient priestesses and regenerated souls were called bees, and
that bees were feigned to be produced from the carcass of a cow, which also
served as a symbol of the ark. Since god was esteemed infernal, honey was used
in funeral rites and in the mysteries of old. The Cyclopaedia further adds that
Samson had found honey in a lion's carcass. This argumentation gives the bee a
rather obscure esoteric significance, dealing with death and rebirth. However,
since this emblem is appropriate to the Third Degree 637 , in which the candidate
dies the symbolic death of the Grand Master Hiram Abiff and is raised again, the
assumption is that even this symbolism is mirrored in Freemasonry, although not
mentioned in the Masonic rituals, manuals, handbooks, or Ahiman Rezons.
633
Simons, p. 134.
634
Moore, Masonic Review, No. XII, 1855, p. 324; bold print added.
635
Pike, The Meaning of Masonry, p. 17.
636
Cf. TRMC, p. 71.
637
As stated in TRMC, p. 71.