Delicious Ambiguity

In the texts of ancient Egypt, bees were born from the tears of Râ, the Sun God. When the tears fell onto the soil, they were transformed into bees that built honeycombs and produced honey. The bee featured frequently in Egyptian hieroglyphs and, being favored by the pharaohs, often symbolized royalty.

Reverence for this tiny creature is shared from prehistoric to contemporary times because of the symbolic act of producing honey from flower nectar. Nearly identical rituals displaying reverence for the insect and its produce exists from the Incas to many tribes in sub-Saharan Africa. 

In literature, the bee is usually thought of through a feminist motif, as the hive is ruled over by a queen bee. Anthropomorphism is the act of attributing human characteristics to non-human plants, animals, or natural phenomena. By the transitive property, I think that part of this metaphorical relationship extends both ways. Is there a word that means the reverse of anthropomorphism?

Bees in the columns at St. Peter's basilica

In the Catholic tradition, the shape of the pope hat was meant to resemble a bee hive. This was meant to symbolize the workings of the Church in general, with an interesting gender inversion as the pope comes to symbolize the queen bee. More generally, the sweet honey coupled with the painful stings was also meant to represent the duality of Christ's mercy and justice.

Opposites are a near constant theme in many religions. This article explains how Christ actually dissolves the boundaries between male and female, because he embodies the essentially feminine characteristics of compassion and universal love in a masculine form.

If you ever have the chance, sit and watch the bees at work. Don't engage in their process; instead passively watch it and you will come to realize the inherent order and neatness in the chaos. 

Within the grander scheme of bees exiting and entering the hive, there are smaller routines.