Meggie Mae Aprons

Springtime Lessons

As I sit here on my porch this wet March morning, I think back on my beekeeping days and how I always miss my little buzzing friends this time of year-when any day now spring wildflowers and local peach trees are going to burst into color. This is an article I wrote several years back for The Texas Beekeepers Association Journal.

Springtime Lessons

As I sit on my porch swing and watch the dawning of a beautiful spring morning, I marvel at the variety and intricacy of God’s creation. I hear the birds sing, listen to squirrels chatter, and watch the bees buzzing busily from flower to flower. The sweetly distinct smell of honey in my morning cup of tea brings my thoughts to my hives. It is still too early in the year to work my hives, yet the anticipation is there. I pick up my beekeeper’s catalogue on the end table and flip through the pages. In hopes of the coming honey flow, I try to calculate all I will need to manipulate this tiniest of creatures. I wonder why it is that I have such a fascination with this insect, and then it dawns on me. When I look into the workings of a hive, I am in awe of God’s creativity, and I see lessons that God would have me learn.

As the bees go about their daily routine, there is never a grumble as to whom is to do what. Each one knows his (or should I say her) job and performs it to the best of her ability. Happy to keep house, take care of little ones, or provide the groceries, there is never a complaint or a feeling that her job is too menial. She cleans and keeps house with such vigor that any maid service would be put to shame. She is always protective of her family, and they always come first. Disturb her babies, and she is a mother you don’t want to tangle with! Through out her day, she is busy moving from one task to the next, and her movements are swift and filled with purpose. All the while, she is happily humming a melody, which soothes the listener and puts all around her at ease. It is a peaceful, happy sound that is contagious to those around her. It is the sound of joy at performing a task to your best ability. It is a song we have all hummed at one time or another, and maybe we should do so as often as she does.

I’m to the bottom of my teacup, and my thoughts are brought back to more pressing matters. I think of the loads of laundry to fold and the kids to attend to. I set my cup down alongside my catalogue. As I rise to go into the house, I seem to have a lightness and purpose to my step, and a hum is heard playing softly on my lip.

Enjoy the day!

~Karin~

Past posts on cooking with honey: http://wp.me/pANRc-23