Dance of the Bees

I have been catching up with some of the old issues of Mary Jane's Farm magazine and I came across an issue simply dedicated to bees.  I have not realized how much our food supply is dependent on pollination.  There is a growing concern over the recent disappearance of bees. Matt McKinney, a Star Tribune reporter, wrote an article about this issue in 2007: "Researchers nationwide are trying to solve a growing agricultural mystery: Where are all the bees? While picnickers may cheer their demise, the rapidly shrinking bee population threatens the pollination and survival of a multitude of commercial crops. A hint of the problem first arose five months ago in Florida where beekeepers said they found whole hives abandoned by adult bees who left behind food and bee larvae, the young that develop inside the hive.

"We're at a tipping point but we don't know what's caused the tip," said Kevin Hackett, a bee expert with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Minnesota beekeepers, whose hives are still in hibernation, will learn in coming days how hard they've been hit. The prospect of losing a significant number of colonies has some local beekeepers worried. The problem now has a name -- colony collapse disorder -- but no explanation. It concerns one type of bee, the European honeybee, or apis mellifera. Bumblebees and any of the 1,500 other species of bee found in the United States are not in danger, but neither are they a replacement for the honeybee. It's the nation's workhorse when it comes to pollination, handling the work necessary to create commercial crops of apples, blueberries, almonds, cranberries, melons and other crops. ..."

The situation seems quite serious. I pray for the return of the bees... I would like to share some interesting as well as fascinating tidbits about bees:

• The honeybee's wings stroke 11,400 times per minute to make their distinctive buzz.
• It takes more than 500 bees to make just one pound of honey.
• A colony of bees consists of 20,000-60,000 honeybees and just one queen.
• Bees may travel as far as 55,000 miles and visit more than 2 million flowers to gather enough nectar to make one pound of honey--all within a 2-mile radius of their hive!
• There are approximately 3 million honey-producing colonies in the U.S and more than 300 varieties of honey!
• Honeybees communicate with one another by dancing! 

Wow!!! God is so imaginative!  I find so much of daily struggles with one another and the world could be resolved if we would learn about God's creation and how it works! I found a poem I wrote several years ago titled, Dance of the Bees... May we join in the dance of the bees!

Dance of the Bees

As I am cleaning the backyard,

a bumblebee gently flies by,

not wanting to disturb me,

seeks a haven among the leaves.

Yet, I find myself disturbed,

fearful of the gentle buzz

I try to find refuge

anxious of being hurt.

How easy it is not to accept the beauty, the grace;

how easy it is not to join in the dance.

I sip my coffee, O Lord,

and I am reminded of the dance of the bees.