11/17/2020
Somber as this post may be, I hope you can appreciate it for what it truly is. For all of her hard work and for me being her keeper, it’s important I honor her. I want to show my appreciation for a little life that left this earthly plain without anyone really taking notice.
I found her on an autumn-touched maple leaf, just as she is here, curled up and looking at peace. Bees, don’t live very long, when compared to human lives-maybe that’s a blessing. I considered for a moment, while admiring her as she was, that she is a winter bee, and the sky is often a luxury for a winter bee. Unlike her spring, summer and autumn sisters, her time spent reaching the sky is limited mostly to short cleansing flights and undertaking duties. During rare occasions she can go farther from home when winter temperatures are just right. Temperatures that allow her to fly just far enough to make it back in time before the sun sinks and the cold begins to bite. Where she’s able to gather from elusive winter pollen sources or enjoy fresh water.
Her last flight was done with a different purpose, or so I’d like to think. I want to believe she died doing what she loved, knowing her time was coming to an end and rather than leaving her failing body to her undertaking sisters, she chose to fly. She dared to touch the sky. See the horizon, see the world as it was, always beautiful no matter what season Mother Earth wears. She knew she would never see the earth in full bloom, buzzing flower to flower under the warm rays of a mid-summer sun. No, that wasn’t to be her fate, nor is it the fate of many winter bees who don’t make it through to early spring. Some of her winter born sister will be lucky enough to see early spring. They’ll be there in the beginning to help forage for early spring nectar and pollen to signal to their queen it’s time to begin laying the next generation.
To have wings and not be able to fly as much as one would like, must be a heartache for a creature born to fly. So, she flew, she kissed the sky to say goodbye. Soaking it all in, she followed the sun, knowing full well the bitter breath of winter would end her. This little bee wouldn’t be a burden for her undertaking sisters to carry away- she spared them the energy and effort- a martyr in her own way. All the while, she enjoyed her final flight kissing the sky and chasing the setting sun, answering the warm whisper of the universe inviting her home- or so I’d like to bee-lieve❤️🐝
