Honeybee Memory
Our Beloved Community
Having an interspiritual heart does not make us shallow. In fact, opening ourselves to the wisdom and power of many faiths can result in profound spiritual experiences within each one. We are like bees in the garden of the world’s religions, gathering nectar and bringing it back to the Queen where it is transformed into honey to nourish ourselves and feed the hungry world. [1] Honeybees use a foraging strategy known as floral constancy: on a given foraging trip, they focus on only one flower type. This helps them remember important information about that food source, which they then can share with other members of the colony when they return to the hive. Collectively, the colony forages many flower types and quickly builds a “database” of viable food sources.
Early in my IT career, I worked with a woman who had a remarkable gift for learning new technologies quickly and finding practical ways to use them. I once asked her if she ever grew tired of producing prototypes and then repeating the process with yet another new technology. “No,” she assured me. “The pleasure comes from learning something that might help others and then giving it away.”
My former coworker, the honeybees, and all those who love to acquire and share wisdom across faith traditions are the ones who bring life - in the forms of real food, shared knowledge, and spiritual food - to each of the beloved “colonies” to which they belong. Their work, though often hidden, is a marvel to behold. For them, I give thanks.
Resources
[1] Starr, M. (2026, 9 June). Walking an Interspiritual Path: Coping and Thriving With Catastrophe. Substack, Mirabai Starr. https://open.substack.com/pub/mirabaistarr/p/walking-an-interspiritual-path/