ABSTRACT
The story of bees and their evolving relationship with the human race dates back to the earliest human societies, as identified through anthropology and represented in cave paintings drawn by the earliest human civilizations. Our own reading of a wide array of literature, poetry, philosophy and other varied writings has led us to see a dynamic narrative which has evolved over time and which shows the changing nature of bees’ relationship with humans and of the liquid attitudes of people towards bees. In this chapter, we discuss the historical, cultural and philosophical context of bee decline, spelling out the evolution of the relationship between bees and human beings and use this as a frame for seeking to explain and understand the current situation whereby bee populations are in serious decline globally. This provides us with a basis for appreciating the current situation for bees and their decline. We aim to establish a framework which may then be used to set the context for the discussions throughout the book in relation to bee decline in the context
of business, nature, the ecosystem, ecology and the planet. Evolution of bee “narratives” has also gone hand in hand with the development and growth of a bee discourse. The discourse relating to bees, through words but also music, image and other media, has evolved over time, reflecting the attitude of people towards bees. This chapter serves to give a flavour of the deep and ancient influence of bees on the human race.
