We sing the glories


of this pillar of fire, the brightness of which is not diminished


even when it is fed by the melting wax which the bees, your servants, have made for the substance of this candle.


—Easter Proclamation (Evangelical Lutheran Worship)


Diehl uncaps and puts the bees in the new hive. Both Diehl and Knoll encourage other congregations to investigate the possibility of being bee- keepers, noting that bees are crucial to earth and human survival.


Diehl, who Knoll describes as a “bee evangelist”


is filled with bee facts and hive details (see page 28). One of the first myths he put to rest is the danger of bees, using words like “tame,” “docile” and “passive” to describe them. Te Lutheran bees spent the summer pollinating


nearby gardens, including those on Capitol Hill, and producing 12 gallons of honey that the congregation bottled last September on “God’s work. Our hands.” Sunday. Tey sold the honey to members and friends, with


proceeds going to Lutheran Disaster Response. But the church had its own disaster in October


Geraldine McCann removes the wax seal from the honey- comb with a hot knife that melts the wax.


CHERYL WALTON


when Diehl went to check on the hives and found the bees gone. “Our megachurch was back down to 150,” Knoll said. Teir disappearance is still a mystery, but the church


simply jumped back on the bee bandwagon and ordered more this winter. Tey are expected to arrive the Friday before Palm Sunday, when First Trinity returns to mega- church status. Tink of those bees if you attend an Easter Vigil,


where bees are liſted up in the proclamation as the new paschal candle is lit: “We sing the glories of this pillar of fire, the brightness of which is not diminished even when it is fed by the melting wax which the bees, your servants, have made for the substance of this candle.”


April 2015 27


GERALDINE MCCANN


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