In ancient times, when communities were just beginning to settle in small villages, they would explore the land around them to understand the terrain, find natural resources, and spot any possible threats. If the area was suitable, they would build their huts, prepare the soil, plant crops, build fences for their animals, and set up their very important beehives or skeps.
Now, as everyone knows, honey has different tastes and flavours depending on the types of flowers that bees visit to collect nectar. The nectar from flowers contains various compounds that give honey its distinct flavour, aroma, and colour. Each settlement’s bees produced honey that was unique, capturing the essence of their surroundings.
Once a village was well-established, a few of its villagers would explore further afield. On these trips, they often discovered neighbouring settlements. Instead of causing fear, this brought great excitement because it meant they could hold a HoneyFest! The villagers would prepare a gift of honey, placing it inside a specially made and beautifully decorated clay jar. They would carve a wonderful wooden box to hold the honey jar with handles to carry it. Then they would wait for the morning of the fullest moon to help guide their way and to provide the longest light for celebrations. Then they would walk in the straightest line possible to the newly discovered village, humming like bees and letting out an enormous “BUZZ” every fifty steps to mark their way.
When the villagers they were visiting heard the sound of the “bees,” they weren’t frightened; they just knew a HoneyFest was coming. They would bring out their bread and mead and place their own honey inside their own specially made and decorated clay jar.
When the new villagers arrived, there would be great celebrations. The discovery of a new tribe and a new relationship was a joyous occasion. They would share drinks and food, but most importantly, every member of each village would taste the other village’s honey, cherishing the differences in flavour, aroma, and colour. Through sharing honey, villagers shared and appreciated each other’s differences and culture. In the evening they would raise their drinks to new friendships under the light of the Honey Moon.
Each village would add the newly discovered settlement to their “grand maps,” marking the straight line between the two and measuring the distance by the number of BUZZES made on the procession. They would add details from each other’s discoveries, creating bigger and bigger maps of the areas in which they lived. These straight lines between each village were known as Bee Lines.
As more and more villages were found, the HoneyFest celebrations became much larger, with many communities gathering together at a single special spot.
Hundreds of years later, when the Romans began to build their roads, they admired the straightness of the Bee Lines and adopted many of them. You can still see evidence of the Bee Lines on modern maps, although they are now called B roads. The original ones are still pretty much straight.
As for the gathering places for the larger HoneyFests, many became revered landmarks in our ancient countryside. Perhaps some are still visible today? You may have even visited one. Indeed, if you drive down the old beeline the B303 (now an A road), many people find themselves wondering, “I wonder what Stonehenge was actually for?”
And now you know, it might have been the site of a grand HoneyFest, where ancient villagers gathered to celebrate the sweet gift of honey and the bonds of friendship without fear between their communities.
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