The Tale of the Jaredite Bees

Moroni abridged Ether’s Jaredite record (Ether 1:2) and gave “not the full account, but a part of the account…from the tower down until they were destroyed” (Ether 1:5). Obviously, there would have been a lot that Moroni did not include, any more than Mormon included all of the record of the Nephites that were in his possession when he abridged that record (3 Nephi 5:8).

After Jared asked his brother to “Go and inquire of the Lord whether he will drive us out of the land, and if he will drive us out of the land, cry unto him whither we shall go. And who knoweth but the Lord will carry us forth into a land which is choice above all the earth? And if it so be, let us be faithful unto the Lord, that we may receive it for our inheritance" (Ether 1:38). The Lord told the Brother of Jared to “Go to and gather together thy flocks, both male and female, of every kind; and also of the seed of the earth of every kind; and thy families; and also Jared thy brother and his family; and also thy friends and their families, and the friends of Jared and their families. And when thou hast done this thou shalt go at the head of them down into the valley which is northward. And there will I meet thee, and I will go before thee into a land which is choice above all the lands of the earth. And there will I bless thee and thy seed, and raise up unto me of thy seed, and of the seed of thy brother, and they who shall go with thee, a great nation. And there shall be none greater than the nation which I will raise up unto me of thy seed, upon all the face of the earth. And thus I will do unto thee because this long time ye have cried unto me” (Ether 1:41-43).

So the Jaredites did as the Lord commanded, and as they started for the valley of Nimrod with all their belongings, animals, and provisions, “they did also carry with them deseret, which, by interpretation, is a honey bee; and thus they did carry with them swarms of bees, and all manner of that which was upon the face of the land, seeds of every kind” (Ether 2:3).

Thus, when the Jaredites finally reached the “great sea which divideth the lands” (Ether 2:13) they had with them, in addition to all else, honey bees. After four years (Ether 2:14), and the building of eight barges (Ether 3:1), they prepared to leave. “And it came to pass that when they had prepared all manner of food, that thereby they might subsist upon the water, and also food for their flocks and herds, and whatsoever beast or animal or fowl that they should carry with them -- and it came to pass that when they had done all these things they got aboard of their vessels or barges, and set forth into the sea, commending themselves unto the Lord their God” (Ether 6:4).

After 344 days, “they did land upon the shore of the promised land. And when they had set their feet upon the shores of the promised land they bowed themselves down upon the face of the land, and did humble themselves before the Lord, and did shed tears of joy before the Lord, because of the multitude of his tender mercies over them” (Ether 6:12).

The question should be asked, but never is, what happened to all those bees during the four or five years at the seashore? Obviously, they would have migrated to other hives and spread out over the area, as opportunistic foragers, and gathering pollen from a variety of plants. Just as obviously, some of these bees, perhaps the majority of them, would have been left behind when the Jaredites took to their barges. And in being left behind, would have created vast honey hives and deposits over the centuries—and like honey, bee pollen is used as a food by the hive for its sustenance.

Caves above Khor Rori in Oman, less than three miles from where Nephi built his ship (top) and inside are ancient honeycomb beehives that were still producing honey as late as the 20th century (bottom)

When the Lehi Colony arrived at Bountiful, they found honey bees. In fact, they called the place Bountiful “because of its much fruit and also wild honey,” causing Nephi to add “and all these things were prepared of the Lord that we might not perish”(1 Nephi 17:5).

Honey bees have never been indigenous to southern Arabia, but was in Mesopotamia. In addition, the honey bee is still not considered indigenous in this area of Oman, considered to have been imported in ages past. Yet, even today, men harvest honey from wild bees in caves overlooking the Khor Rori inlet along the coast of Oman.

It seems likely that the Jaredites arrived at this self same inlet centuries earlier in preparation for building their barges to cross that “great sea which divideth the lands.” And in so doing, spent four years while they planted, harvested, and populated the area with plants, trees, animals, and foodstuff for themselves and for the future Nephites who would also reach this spot “and all these things were prepared of the Lord that we might not perish.”