According to the 1964 edition of The Roman Ritual (The Bruce Publishing Co.), the following prayer/ceremony, to be conducted by a priest or authorized layperson with the assistance of one or more other people, is a valid way of blessing bees. It apparently does not matter whether the bees in question have been raised in a good Catholic hive or not.

Priest: Our help is in the name of the Lord.

Response: Who made heaven and earth.

Priest: The Lord be with you.

Response: May He also be with you.

Priest: Let us pray.

Priest: Lord God almighty, who made the heavens and the earth, and all living things in the air and on land for the use of mankind; who ordered, through the ministers of holy Church, that candles made from the industry of bees should be lighted during the solemn mystery in which the most sacred body and blood of Jesus Christ, your Son, is confected and consumed; send your holy blessing upon these bees and these beehives, causing them to multiply and to produce and to be kept from harm, so that their yield of wax can be turned to your honor, to that of the Son and Holy Spirit, and to the veneration of the blessed Virgin Mary; through Christ our Lord.

Response: Amen.

The priest then sprinkles the bees/hive with holy water.


After having consulted with an author/former priest-in-training, I believe the above noncommercial, educational duplication of the prayer to be a fair use, since prayers are intended for free public performance during religious ceremonies.

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