Beehive.

Beehive. Because the bee is such an energetic insect, never appearing to rest from sunup to sundown, the bee and, hence, the beehive have long been symbols of industry or work. In former times, when more work had to be done by hand and every large piece of construction had to be carried on by great num­bers of men, they seemed at a distance to be going and coming as bees. The ant would have done as well to represent that sort of activity, but it does not produce edible honey and the ant hill is not so attractive and could not be so well reproduced as the beehive. The early 19th century lecture of the Master’s Degree contained the following which is sometimes omitted at the present day: ”The Bee Hive is an emblem of industry, and recommends the practice of that virtue to all created beings, from the highest seraph in heaven, to the lowest reptile of the dust. It teaches us, that as we come into the world rational and intelligent beings, so we should ever be industrious ones; never sitting down con­tented while our fellow-creatures around us are in want, especially when it is in our power to relieve them, without inconvenience to ourselves.”

Jones’ Freemason’s Guide and Compendium (p. 408) states: ”On old jewels, tracing-boards, lodge furniture, banners, summonses, certificates, etc., the beehive with its flying bees is often a prominent symbol, and in at least one case is to be found in a lodge seal. Carved models of beehives, a few inches high, have a place in one or two old lodges. As far back as 1724-27, a Masonic pam­phlet, often attributed to Jonathan Swift (1667-1745), speaks at length of the bee and the beehive as a symbol, and apparently our seventeenth century brethren were taught that the beehive is ’an emblem of industry recommending the practice of that virtue to all created things, from the highest seraph in heaven to the lowest reptile in the dust.’”

The beehive appears in the seals of the Grand Lodges of Alabama, Virginia, and Utah. It is pre­sumably one of the symbols which the Mormons borrowed from the Freemasons. It is extensively used by the Mormon Church and also by the State of Utah itself. See MORMONS.