Knows how sweet it can be"
Says an old Bulgarian saying. In Bulgaria honey is valued, not just as a sweet food, but as the elixir of life and immortality. It is used in rituals, healing practices, celebratory meals, rites of passage, and has an important role from birth to death. Various rituals still take place throughout the year in remote villages to bless the hives. In Spring, the girls sing songs about bees and honey to bless the new farming season.
In past times, newborn babies were welcomed into the world with a honey blessing which was chanted by the mother and grandmothers as they bathed the baby "may you buzz like a bee and be sweet like honey", meaning that they wished the baby to be healhy, skilled, industrious and sweet and kind. Ritual bread glazed with honey was shared for births and for weddings. After a wedding, the bride would place honey and butter on top of the gate and threshold before stepping into her new home, and was welcomed by her mother-in-law with a bowl of honey and a bowl of salt. An old Bulgarian saying still in use is "may your life be as smooth as butter and as sweet as honey".
With the importance of Beekeeping in Bulgaria, it is no surprise that there is a Bulgarian Saint of Beekeeping. Saint Procopius or Saint Prokopi is connected to beekeeping and his day is July 8th (tomorrow as I write). Beekeeper's wives would bake two ritual loaves and take them to the beehives before sunrise, burn incense and coat them in honey. A bowl of honey is then carried to church and left overnight in the church. The honey is then believed to have unique healing properties. On this day, women make "grass bread" in the shape of a beehive. The hive holds the bee family together, and so the bread is given to relatives to hoild the human family together, to be healthy and to live long.
Bulgarian Carniolan Bee on a Poppy
