Abuzz With Bees

As we prepare for the growing season and feel the stirrings of spring, I’ve been going through our farm pictures and notes. This post is a journal entry from last August which reminded me to make the most of the few remaining restful days.

The hemp was abuzz with bees today. Cutting kale in the next bed over it was hard not to hear joy in the sound of a job well done, tiny translucent wings in a standing ovation for sweet nectar and saddlebags brimming with pollen. The bees are out this morning to do a job: feeding the hive, much like myself. Though dragging this slowly filling bin of leaves behind me doesn’t feel like quite so graceful a carrying compartment as they’ve engineered for themselves. But here we both are, enjoying the morning as the sun just begins to crest the tree line. The unhurried rush of efficient work as we race the heat.

I read recently that bees sometimes get so tired they fall asleep in flowers. Accompanied by the grand display of fuzzy bee butts sticking out of flowers, rotund bodies draped over petals, I found myself wondering what kind of rest it is. Is it the dog tiredness of midsummer, working in the sun all day to barely make it home to collapse into bed? Or is it like when the heat of the day drives me to the shade, and I take my rest reveling in the world, breathing in the smell of grass under a leafy awning.

I wonder if it’s frowned upon for them, as it so often is for us, to take some rest whenever, wherever, and however they need it. Do they startle awake on soft beds of pink petals, pollen shaking free from legs suddenly stirred to action, drifting down like a meteor shower around bleary eyes? Only to rush home, hoping nobody saw their lapse, and if they did that they’ll at least keep it to themselves. Are they embarrassed by what might be perceived as weakness?

It’s hard to believe that could be the case, listening to them humming away as I near the end of the row. Fingers chilled with dew I slide the clumsy crate along and think it might be different for them. They must revel in their rest, and maybe nudge their neighbor to point out the one who has fallen asleep. Not with the judgement of an overseer or manager, but the gentle teasing of camaraderie, secure in the knowledge they’re all giving it their all. What I hear behind me is the sound of a whole bunch of beings working hard together, in the chaotic efficiency of nature, to make their lives successful and comfortable as possible. As the sun throws the vibrant pinks into overdrive, who could begrudge one a nap amongst all that beauty?

Not moving isn’t the same as resting, just as busyness isn’t the same as progress. Rest fills you, recharges you. Where does that energy come from, to fill the void left after a full day of buzzing around? Watching the bees, it’s clear to me that it comes from the world around us, from those moments, sometimes forced on us by our own exhausted bodies and minds, when we are quiet and still, able to absorb our surroundings.

Take time to be quiet and still today, to open yourself to be filled by the the energy of life buzzing all around you. Revel in the world and let it replenish you. Revel in rest, in the cycles of work and recovery that we share with all things.