Talking to my (Mom’s) Bees
The New York Times recently reported that when Queen Elizabeth II died, her beekeper went and told the bees. Like, as a courtesy. I don’t know if there’s anything more charming in all of 2022 than this. And it reminded me of how I talk to my bees. Well, the bees my mom and partner keep in our backyard. Really I just “supervise” when they’re opening the hive and doing the hard work of beekeeping. I’m really just there for the sweet rewards, of which there was 60 lbs last year.
I’ve been hanging with these bees all summer. Usually I creep up to their hive and park myself in our outdoor clawfoot bath tub to watch them zoom in and out. They’re actually pretty clumsy, sometimes missing the landing pad by full inches and tumbling to the grass below. You can hear the drones coming from across the yard with their big bulky bodies and buzzy wings. I’ve only seen a queen outside a hive once and I think she was headed out to swarm. Her long amber body wiggled around the wall next to the hive then she flew off, never to be seen again, at least by us.
Once there was a swarm in our peach tree. My partner and I came back from breakfast and stepped into a sea of bees flying around the back yard. We called my mom (our beekeeping mentor) and she rushed over. Even though she got there in about 10 minutes the swarm had already left with just a few errant bees buzzing around the hive.
And of course, there’s nothing like watching a lovely lady bee come home with her legs full of pollen. To me, it looks like hope. As I’m sure you know, we’re killing our pollinators with climate change, pesticides, habitat destruction, and who knows what else. This will be very very bad news for, um, everything if they don’t make it.
So there’s something about hosting 50,000 of these these little ladies in my yard - feeding them, giving them bee medicine, protecting their hives in the winter, keeping the queen healthy - that feels like hope.
I love this earth. I think it’s so cool and beautiful. I love the jokes here. I love the beauty and wilderness and cities and species here. I love getting to have my essence/soul adventure here on this planet. I’m amazed by and grateful for everything here, including Spirit in all her forms. Including the plants, and including the bees.
I don’t know what’s going to happen to this planet, and it’s actually not up to me. But I can do my part, and for me that’s having bees. Not just that, but honoring them, supporting them, learning from them, and when someone important dies, letting them know as a courtesy in gratitdue for their great service to the earth.
Any other beekepers out there? Or folks who just love pollinators? Send me your stories, pictures, and any bee recommendations. I’d love to see how we’re supporting and honoring our beautiful pollinators.
