Wonder

Every year when spring finally comes, I reacquaint myself with the bees that have been missing from the landscape during the long winter months.  I am continually humbled and amazed by these tiny creatures buzzing tirelessly from flower to flower collecting pollen.  As one of the world’s mighty pollinators, everything they touch turns to gold in the form of honey, honeycomb, bee pollen, royal jelly, wax and probably some other bee products I don’t even know about.

These fascinating insects have also inspired expressions commonly used in English such as:

• busy as a bee
• bee in your bonnet
• the birds and the bees
• queen bee

One bee busily collecting pollen from a thistle in Montreal’s Parc des Rapides.

I enjoy watching bees busily collecting pollen, moving from flower to flower.  I love hearing the soft, hum-like buzz of their wings.  It turns out I always liked bees. I drew tons of them as a child, something I rediscovered last summer while going through boxes of my childhood art. When I was about 7 or 8, I showed my appreciation for this magical insect by turning myself into one for Halloween. My mother even sewed a stinger.

A bee buzzing around some echinacea in my mom’s garden.

For nearly a decade I’ve been reading about the mysterious disappearances of bees called Colony Collapse Disorder [CCD].  Often pollution is cited as one of the main reasons, but I’m sure it is due to any number of factors.  The results, however, will be dire for the world’s plants, many of which depend on bee pollinators for their survival.  This includes many foods we enjoy eating like apples, cucumbers, and pears.

I feel sad when I think about these tiny, magical creatures that are so rarely considered as they work industriously to provide beneficial things.  When I do see bees, I always take a few moments to pause and watch them, giving silent gratitude for the many wondrous things they do for us, including the production of honey a personal favorite.  I appreciate that they’re still around.  I also have a healthy amount of respect for the apiarists of the world, who tend to and care for the bees.

A lot of campaigns have started in the last few years to save the bees.  If you’re a fan of bees, like me, or maybe just realized how important they are as pollinators, do a search and find out what you can do.

A bee buzzing around during one of morning commutes on the bike last summer.