The Buzz on Birthday Blessings

If you celebrate a birthday for a whole month, should you age faster? Here’s hoping that it does not work that way. I was planning on ignoring this birthday and did a pretty good job of it immediately. However, any excuse to eat with my dear neighbors and converse and enjoy friendship works for me.

Dear cousin Lynn, sent me this sweet devotional book and other themed gifts. Scattered throughout the book are “Bee Facts.”

Honeybees . . .form societies with division of labor and cooperation. Cooperation in most species requires some kind of communication, and the honeybee dance communication provides the archetypic example. A single worker bee (all workers are female, by the way) finding a rich source of nectar flies back to the hive. A short time later dozens of fellow workers make beelines to the nectar site.
~ Stephen Hart, The Animal Communication Project

As a field bee gets old and her wings begin to fray and wear out, when she is no longer able to fly great distances and carry heavy loads, she may be permitted to work inside the hive again, as she did in her youth.
~ William Longgood, The Queen Must Die and Other Affairs of Bees and Men

One researcher now claims that bees have their own form of loafing or resting; after a foraging trip, he says, a field bee crawls into an empty cell [of the honey-comb] and snugs in for a half-hour siesta; she is quiet but it is not known if she is asleep . . . or merely resting. Upon arousing herself, apparently refreshed, she again takes off for the fields.
~ William Longgood, The Queen Must Die and Other Affairs of Bees and Men

So here is my lesson from the bees today.

1. The desire to share good things with others is part of the nature that God created in bees and me. Unfortunately, the comparison ends there as I am a very poor dancer and not always very good at communicating either.



2. Even though I am getting pretty frayed, there is still a job for me to do. Whew!



3. It is okay—good—to pace ourselves. Power naps are good for production.

One more thing . . . on my birthday, Jim posted a video of bees bringing in pollen. We have been observing this at our hives, too. It is such fun to watch. This is for those of you that do not have a hive outside your back door to observe.

Rejoice in this Beeeeeautiful day!