posted 07-13-2001 11:15 AM            

Bees have been inspiration and a powerful symbol for a long time. In the Holy Writ Bees are spoken of as a term of comparison for a numerous army relentlessly harassing their enemies. In the book of Judges, Samson ate the honey from a swarm of Bees in the dried carcase of a lion he killed. The Danites were represented by a serpent, an eagle, a lion, and bees. The powerful and wealthy Barberini family of Rome also adopted the Bee as a device. One Barberini family member, Pope Urban V111 (1623-44), had the buildings he commissioned ornamented with Bees. When the tomb of Childeric I, son of Merovee, a 6th century Frankish king, was opened in 1653, 300 miniature Bees of gold were found.

Napoleon took the Bee as his personal emblem as a link with/to the early rulers of France and because the Bees were symbolic of a Republic of equals under a single leader. I also believe that the Holy Writ's comparison of Bees for a numerous army relentlessly harassing their enemies may have been inspiration for Napoleon. When Napoleon was crowned he had the Bees from Childeric I's tomb sewn into his coronation robe. The populous celebrated the coronation by incorporating images of the Napoleon Bees into their fabrics.