Elephants and Forget-me-nots!

My three years in junior high school corresponded with my three years as a Beehive girl in the church YWMIA program. Those initials stood for "Young Women's Mutual Improvement Association". Although "Beehive" girls still exist in the program today, it was much different for us...much more involved, requiring three years to complete all the requirements to become an "Honor Bee". Not everyone achieved that rank because it was quite difficult to accomplish all that it required, but that was the goal. I will attempt to give a brief overview of the program as it existed back then, and how it affected me.

In some ways the program was structured like the Boy Scouts in that we had bandlos on which we placed various symbols and awards we had earned. (We even had a salute) But everything represented some part of the life and society of the bee, such as:

• A group of Beehive girls in a ward was called a "swarm"
• Their leader was the "beekeeper"
• First year girls were "builders" (builders of the hive)
• Second year girls "gatherers" (gatherers of the honey)
• Third year girls "guardians" (guardians of the hive)
• Beehive colors were blue (a bee's favorite color), brown and gold (the color of the bee)
• <>Awards earned in the first two years were called "cells" (where honey was stored) and "seals" (when a cell is filled with honey it is sealed over with wax). Third year girls earn "beelines". Etc., etc.

The emblem on the top of the bandlo was a beehive. A gold hexagon (cell) below the hive indicated rank of builder (first year), two blue violets at the side of the hive showed you as a gatherer, and a bee at the top of the hive indicated you were a guardian. There were seven "fields" or areas in which to earn awards (gather honey), each represented by a different color. These fields and colors were:
Religion - purple Arts and crafts - brown
Home - orange Business - gold
Health - red Public Service - red, white, and blue
Out-of-doors - green
Fourteen awards (two in each field) were required to complete each rank. The first two years these awards were represented by colored hexagons or cells on the bandlo, and the guardian awards were in the shape of elongated rectangle or "lines". To become an "Honor Bee" you had to complete fourteen additional awards in any field or fields of your choice. These could be earned anytime throughout the three years of Beehives. These were called Honor Badges and were large hexagons with pictures representing the field of endeavor in which they were earned I guess all of these requirements might be compared to the "Personal Progress" program today. We also had a "theme" or what we called "The Spirit of the Hive" which we memorized and repeated at each meeting much as you do the Young Women's Values today. It went like this:
"On my honor I will endeavor to live by the Spirit of the Hive.
Have faith, Seek Knowledge, Safeguard Health, Honor Womanhood, Understand Beauty,
Value Work, Love Truth, Taste the Sweetness of Service, Feel Joy."

There were two other symbols on our bandlos which I should mention, mainly because one of them had such a negative impact on my life. That may sound a little strange for a church program that was supposed to elevate youth and help them to grow. It really wasn't the intention of the program or of my parents to bring about the negative affect that it did, but a good lesson can be learned here. Let me explain. As we began the Beehive program, the class was to choose a "swarm" symbol which was to represent that for which the members wish to work as a group. Then we were to choose something to place on our bandlos to remind us of that goal. Our class chose increased spirituality, love, and purity. The symbol we chose was a Book of Mormon, and a red and white rose. That was fine and can see that symbol at the bottom of my bandlo. But we were also to select a personal symbol by making a list of qualities you see in others that you admire and choosing one that you would like to develop in yourself. Then we were to choose some symbol that would represent and remind us of this quality to place on our bandlos. Sounded good to me! I liked that idea. I had seen older girls with their symbols (usually some kind of flower) displayed prominently at the top of their bandlos where they were supposed to be. I remember thinking of some qualities, mostly of my mother's, that I really admired and was trying to think of a flower that would represent them. I was seriously thinking of a sweet pea because that was my mother's favorite flower, but was having trouble deciding on how to make one out of felt to put on my bandlo. Sweet peas aren't the easiest flower to duplicate. But that problem was solved when my dad told be that I what I really needed was something to remind me not to be so forgetful. I really don't remember being that forgetful, at least not unusually so for a child, but I guess my dad did. He suggested an elephant as a symbol (we all know that an elephant never forgets), and if I had to have flowers, what about forget-me-nots. He was not joking. So guess what is on my bandlo, right at the top in a prominent place? Yup. It's an elephant with two small forget-me-nots on each side. I hated it. Instead of reminding me of something positive to work towards it reminds me of what I guess is a negative quality in my character. At least my dad must have thought so. And at times in my life it has become an excuse for being that way, forgetful that is. I just must have been born that way.

And, by the way, I did become and Honor Bee!