Four references to Honeybees in The Lives of the Desert Fathers
Part 1 of 3: St Jerome – the persecution by Diocletian and Valerian – St Anthony – St Abraham
Medieval religious works often referred to honeybees in the form of metaphor and in many cases, the encounters with bees signalled the holiness of martyrs, holy men, and saints. There is little to be surprised then, that honeybees feature regularly in the fourth-century manuscript Vitas Patrum (Lives of the Fathers).
The Vitae Patrum, sometimes called the Lives of the Desert Fathers is a hagiographical encyclopaedia often attributed to St Jerome. Jerome was only the author of three biographies though. Most of the entries were written by others and joined to Jerome’s biographies of desert monks to form a comprehensive account of the Christian Fathers, including the likes of St Paul, St Anthony, St Mary of Egypt, and St Eugene.