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Bees symbolize the qualities James loves most about life as an American farmer, especially contemplation of nature, hard work, and cooperation. Out of his wide-ranging reflections on nature, James expresses a special respect and admiration for bees. On one level, bees reflect the special relationship that a farmer can enjoy with his land. That is, because James is able to spend so much time observing and contemplating his natural surroundings, he has the opportunity to notice and appreciate small, easily overlooked creatures like bees. In his second letter, James describes in detail the process by which he patiently tracks bees into the woods in order to collect their honey, suggesting that farming instills this patience and discipline in James, and that bees’ noble traits make them worth the painstaking effort—a more delicate yet more rewarding effort than hunting for deer or bear.
His fondness for bees is such that, in other letters, James occasionally uses bees as a literary device to convey his admiration for human traits like loyalty and industry. He describes Quakers as being “like bees” because their community-mindedness leads them to emigrate as groups, “in regular and connected swarms.” He elsewhere describes Quakers as a “fruitful hive” whose hard work enables them to thrive no matter where they live.
Bees Quotes in Letters from an American Farmer
The Letters from an American Farmer quotes below all refer to the symbol of Bees. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Letter 2
Quotes
It is my bees, however, which afford me the most pleasing and extensive themes; let me look at them when I will, their government, their industry, their quarrels, their passions, always present me with something new[.]
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Bees Symbol Timeline in Letters from an American Farmer
The timeline below shows where the symbol Bees appears in Letters from an American Farmer. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Letter 2
...him with wonder. He believes all creatures deserve respect. He regrets that “king-birds” destroy industrious bees, yet those same birds keep crows from destroying his fields. James describes a time when...
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...insects could have so perfectly hidden themselves. Yet he keeps returning to the subject of bees—their fascinating “government, their industry, their quarrels, their passions.” He loves to rest near his bee-house...
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...woods, not to hunt for deer or bear like his neighbors do, but to catch bees. Once he finds a good spot, he builds a fire, on which he places some...
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Letter 3
...another will help him build a barn. James offered to teach him how to locate bees. He points out to F.B. that even England was once mostly woodland and that its...
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Letter 7
...to seagoing people, and this is true of Nantucket’s people, too. Sometimes they emigrate “like bees, in regular and connected swarms.” In particular, the Quakers often travel to visit other Quaker...
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Letter 10
...and vines. Hummingbirds are drawn to the vine-blossoms, and James loves to watch them. Like bees, hummingbirds “subsist by suction.” They fly so rapidly that their wings are a blur. They...
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