Bees provide so many benefits to the world, but what about the personal benefits of beekeeping? Again, there are many, but the one that is uppermost in my mind right now is patience.
Patience is probably not the word that first comes to mind when thinking of bees. I mean, we see them busily flying from flower to flower and back to the hive. When we look inside the hive, we see them busily feeding, cleaning, always moving, always busy.
But picture yourself with a spoon of beautiful, golden honey held over a steaming cup of tea, or perfectly round scoop of ice cream. Honey can’t be rushed off that spoon.
At first, the honey forms a giant drop at the tip of the spoon. Slowly, gravity pulls that drop off the end in a lazy, thin, stream. Gradually, the first drop hits the target and more delicious honey flows, oh-so-slowly folding back on itself like a ribbon. You think, “This is taking too long,” and you begin to shake the spoon just a little and the ribbon wiggles, but it still continues at its own slow pace. Finally, you can’t stand it any longer and decide to use a finger to scoop the honey off. Now you have a honey covered spoon, and a honey coated finger. You keep trying to wipe the honey from finger to spoon and back, and before you know it, your hand is covered in delicious honey. So is the entire spoon. And the cup. And the counter. And it was all because you were impatient. True, you have the honey where you want it, but you also have a mess!
So it is with the life of a beekeeper. We have to be patient with our hard-working friends. It takes a great deal of time and work to produce the wax just to build the comb. Then they must provide the nectar and pollen to make the food for themselves and the developing bees. It takes an awful lot of nectar to produce enough honey for the hive to sustain itself, much less share with us. It’s a process that can’t be rushed.
And so, we practice patience. Constantly amazed at how these small creatures know what needs to be done, and the most efficient way to do it, we observe and wait. We remind ourselves that the waiting is part of the cycle. Patience is good for us in our daily lives as well. It’s not easy to be patient. But, many times in life, as with the drizzle of honey, the wait is richly rewarded.
I really liked it. Great creative writing; I laughed right out loud at the visual at the end of the honey journey.
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This is beautifully written and really makes me think that maybe I’ll just wait for the honey to fall of my spoon on its own today. Maybe.
I tried it. Still too impatient!
Good luck trying though!
Youmeandthebees helped me set up my first hive and I couldn’t be more pleased!!! Every day! Twice a day! I check on them. I can’t wait until later this season to see an increased harvest amongst our fruit trees AND honey as well!! It’s been an awesome adventure so far!
It’s a wonderful adventure. It’s lovely to see such busy ladies in your garden. Hopefully, you’ll see an increase in your harvest this summer!
I understood the comfortable relaxed tenor of the of the web site when l read the Patience posting. No place for bees here in apartment living but I envy the idea.. Really enjoyed the web site and wish you well.
Thanks Marriam!
I agree, bees and apartments aren’t a good match. I’m lucky to live where I can have the bees and all the flowers to keep them happy!
Thanks for checking out the website!