One Bee

To Be
Isn’t it funny how a color can remind us of things. This morning as I was brushing my teeth the colors of the towels and decor of our bathroom made me first think of bees. I thought of some “bee” paper that was wrapped around a Kauri wood frame that I have kept for forty years.I loved it so much that I kept it all these years and part of it is framed and hangs in our kitchen. Then of course the word be. One bee, two bees, to be?

First of all bees. I love bumble bees with their round fluffy bodies and mustard and black markings. Then the pouches filled with nectar and their bodies covered with a dusting of yellow. How could their small wings allow them to fly and for so long – oh those “Busy little bees.” Off I went to my computer and started to research and here are some of the facts that I found out.

Honeybees’ small wing-to-body-size ratio means they have to work harder to fly. Honey bees are fab flyers. They fly at a speed of around 25km per hour and beat their wings 200 times per second!Bees are the world’s most prolific pollinators. Bees are attracted to flowers rich in nectar, such as lavender and bluebells. A beehive can have a population of up to 80,000 honeybees.
Each bee has 170 odorant receptors, which means they have one serious sense of smell! They use this to communicate within the hive and to recognise different types of flowers when looking for food.The average worker bee lives for just five to six weeks. During this time, she’ll produce around a twelfth of a teaspoon of honey. I appreciate my honey even more now!
The queen can live up to five years. She is busiest in the summer months, when she can lay up to 2,500 eggs a day! Bees are a symbol of wealth, good luck and prosperity since Ancient times. … The same goes for coins with a honey bee symbol. Myth says these charms and coins are lucky for success in life. Bees are magnificent, productive insects.

Now what about be. Is that a question? Ah yes “To be or not to be”? What I did not realize was the context of Shakespeare’s audience at the time Hamlet was written and performed. This contributed to the immortalization of the line. This is a people who had been ravaged by the Black Death. Life expectancy was in the 30’s, maybe low 40’s if you were wealthy. Death was something these people knew intimately. So, for Hamlet to philosophize about it, the value of life and the nature of the what lies beyond, all of this would have been quite meaningful to the audience.

Amazing what two colors can evoke and start us off on a convoluted quest.
Be safe, be good, be yourself. Most importantly at this time – Be well – .
Bees are tiny creatures who work hard, do good and sustain life on this planet. Perhaps a lesson for us to look at the value of life at this time in our history. Let us be thankful for all those people – like the bees – who work tirelessly, do good, protect and sustain others.

May 26, 2020