Have you ever had a disagreement with a loved one that resulted in confused, hurt feelings for both of you? I have, and after such an episode the following story came to me. It helped to bring both illumination and healing to our particular situation. I shared it with my own “Honey Bear,” and we both agreed that we wanted to end our story the same as this one ended!

By Pamela Olivetree

A Little Spat of Honey

“Honey Bee,” as she was called, was in her hive one morning doing what she naturally does… converting nectar to honey and feeding it to future baby bees. She was quite absorbed in the task of depositing the weight she was carrying into little symmetrical holes, and wasn’t feeling very energetic about it, either. She never was a morning bee!

Suddenly she was startled from her work by her best friend, Honey Bear, who thrust his big black nose into the hive. “Hey my Honey!” he blurted out, “I know this isn’t when we normally meet up, but I’m huungrrrry!”

Before Bear even finished his boisterous announcement, Honey Bee reacted. Why exactly, she does not know. She knew her furry friend had a big heart, but the quick, and even insensitive abruptness of him interrupting her focus caused her to feel defensive. Instead of pausing to communicate and ask questions, however, she rashly did something that no bee likes to do.

She stung him. Right on the nose!

“Ouch!” Honey Bear growled, and then in an automatic reaction for a bear, he swatted at Honey Bee! She went flying and landed on the other side of the hive. Stunned for a brief moment, she then gathered herself enough to see the tail end of her big grizzly friend running away into the woods whimpering.

“Oh dear!” Honey Bee sighed, “I’ll have to catch him later when we meet up for our evening picnic in the woods. We’ll talk about this over some honey, and make amends then.”

Evening came and evening went, however, and Honey Bee sat on a tree branch waiting for her bear friend who never showed up. With sadness in her heart, she returned to the hive and cried.

“What a mess,” she moaned, but determined to not give up, she planned to go back out to their favorite spot the next day.

Meanwhile Honey Bear was feeling bad too. He missed his Honey Bee, so he planned on coming back the next day to talk to her as well.

When they finally saw each other again, they shared some honey together and expressed their regrets for overreacting and hurting each other. Knowing it was a unique challenge for a bee and a bear to be friends, they encouraged each other to believe the best of each other and keep walking in love.

Needless to say – it was a sweet time the two of them had! 🍯🐝