Bee Day 2020: Keeping the Keeper

Around late January as the Bees of Forever Summer are trucked to California’s Central Valley to pollinate miles and miles of almonds for your almond milk and granola, our sleepy Bees of the North remain hunkered down, clustered in a ball conserving energy as they make their way through the winter. Our honey bee hives stay put on the Jennings Family Farm year-round, no mild winters or mass interstate migrations for them – their job from November through March is to stay alive. To survive the cold, and make it to the spring.

Sometime in March when a random sunny, warm day rears its head, the Bees of the North start buzzing outside the hive for a fresh air flight and intestinal dump. Yep, they have a lot of build-up in their bowels. Everyone poops. Even then, the flight is fleeting. I like to think of it as a moment of encouragement, and a sweet reminder of flight and sunnier days that are to come. In the Michigan lands of snow and ice, it’s not until late April or early May, that northern beekeepers can officially have their BEE DAY. This year of 2020, Bee Day came in early May. The bees may ‘sleep’ or hibernate through winter, but like the people of the north, when the sun and heat emerge it’s one, GIGANTIC BURST OF ENERGETIC ACTIVITY, a BUZZ, that doesn’t cease until the snow and ice return.

As usual, the bees were right on time. Like last year and the 10 years before since I started keeping bees, just as the dandelions were starting to show their sunny faces and the temperatures became more consistently warm, the bees rushed forward in flight. Like a pent-up release, emerging from the boxes, dancing in the sunshine, and ready to seize the moment. Now, that doesn’t mean the bees won’t face a snowstorm, or a random (maybe not so random) Polar Vortex chill throughout the month of May. They will. But, they won’t quit.

While 2020 may seem the most unusual year in many of our lifetimes, for reasons not necessarily weather related, count on the honey bee to maintain a routine. While our internal clocks have been challenged and bewildered by stay-at-home orders and constantly changing schedules, the bees maintain constancy with flow and structure. Given the ups-and-downs we’re experiencing, and the ‘fast-slow’ times that have been knocking us out of rhythm as we ruminate and worry about the future, it is impossible not to admire and be inspired by these tiny creatures that are living in their moment moving forward with purpose and intention. Watching the bees and being a part of them as their ‘Keeper’ has never given more purpose than now. However, as I have more time to reflect these days thinking about how much the bees provide me with support and purpose, perhaps they are the ones ‘Keeping’ me as they live in their moment.

Virginia is the co-owner and the lead beekeeper of Firefly Fields. She LOVES bees and you can read a little more about her here. In the meantime, check-out this fun video on our YouTube Channel that shows Bee Day 2020 to the tune of ‘The Flight of the Bumblebee.’ See the day boiled down to 90 seconds of pure buzz!