This Spring we have been blessed with up-close sightings of eagles and otters, snapping turtles and hummingbirds. The glory of Creation has lifted my spirit in these oft-times dismal days.
One of my happiest moments was seeing the first bumble bee, a regular visitor to the flowers of my childhood home but now threatened in North America by loss of habitat and pesticides. We've seen other bee species as well, thanks be to the Creator.
My big struggle this year has been allowing the dandelions to grow rather than vanquishing them. They are important flowers (not weeds) for bees and other pollinators. One researcher rather delightfully described their nectar as Red Bull for bees. Bees are essential for pollinating many crops which would collapse without them.
There are about half a dozen references to bees in the bible but ten times that number of references to honey, which requires a whole of bees to produce. The Promised Land for the people of Israel was filled with milk and honey, you might recall.
This is World Bee Day, so we can all pay attention to the bees in our neighbourhoods, regard them as friends rather than enemies, and ensure that we do what needs to happen for them to thrive in the Promised Land of wherever we live.
No comments:
Post a Comment