I had a little bit of ‘Bee therapy’ yesterday.

One lesson learned during confinement #1 was the importance of small pleasures. Had it not been born out of necessity, it might be considered virtuous, but alas we were obliged to find pleasure in the little; we couldn’t get out to procure the ‘big’.

Thirty minutes of bees was a nice reset yesterday…

Unexpected & Amazing

I dare say that back home in Canada, the bees would have already been tucked by now, retreating to their winter cluster, surrounding the queen to keep her warm (& therefore alive) until Spring. That’s really the sole purpose of ‘Winter bees’.

• They’re born late in the season (August/September back home, September/October here).
• They don’t go out to forage because the Summer bees have already stocked the hive full of provisions.
• They’re not busy feeding young larvae because once things cool off, there really isn’t a significant brood nest to speak of.
• They’re not guarding the entrance because predators like wasps and hornets are virtually absent.

Their main ‘job’ is to form a sufficient cluster around the queen to keep her warm and fed, thereby guaranteeing the colony’s survival.

Imagine my surprise…

…to see bees still flying. Not only that, but a number of them were bringing in pollen.

Pollen… three days before December!
What on earth!?

That means two things

1. Firstly: The season is extended and something, somewhere is producing pollen (either flowers or evergreens like cypress).
2. Secondly: The queen is still minimally active (or was 21 days ago, considering the larval/pupa stages) and that the bees are rearing brood, albeit likely in reduced numbers. (Reminder: pollen is a protein source that, when mixed with honey, is fed to young bees, and is known as ‘bee bread’).

Wonder-full

It’s little things like this, moments, in the midst of a world gone mad, that bring me back to a place of relative balance.

Matthew 6:33 is well known: ‘seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things (the things we fret & fuss over) shall be added unto you.’

But it is the response, the near-final thought summing up what preceded it. Matthew urges us to consider…

• the birds: ‘they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?’ (v.26)
• the lilies: ‘they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin…even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these’ (v.28-29)

To this I might add… the bees in the hive.

God may have extended the season, but he allowed them to store up reserves in-season and provided late-season pollen ‘to boot’ (Atlantic Canadian English for; ‘in addition to all the rest’ 🙂 ).

In the midst of the craziness, God takes care of the lilies, the birds… and the bees, and like v. 26 asks, “Aren’t we more important than they?” Christ died for us, revealing our importance. He’ll take care of them & he’ll take care of you.

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God bless you today!