Bee-lieve It, or Not

Wasps in Rochester, Minnesota, chose the eave of a Cambodian Buddhist temple for a nesting site. Considerately, they built the nest in the shape of a seated Buddha. Although with a carrot for a nose, it might look more like Frosty the Snowman.

Still, one temple member believed the wasp nest is a teaching from the Buddha. "The Buddha is trying to tell everybody to seek peace in their lives," he said. Entomologists, on the other hand, say the form of the nest is typical of paper wasps.

Bees, although perhaps not wasps, are common subjects of Cambodian Buddhist art, and stupas often have a beehive appearance. Bees, wasps ... close enough. "Bees can do this kind of miracle, so humans can also do miracles," Monk Sokunthea Thun said. "Everywhere in this world, we humans need to follow in the bees' path to make peace and serenity."

The Amitabha Sutra says, "Water, birds, tree groves, all without exception recite the Buddha's name, recite the Dharma." So why not bees ... er, wasps?

Update: See this and other wonders of theology at Buck Wolf's Weird News