The beauty of bees

 

When I was eight years old, I was afraid of bees. I thought that I could get stung at any moment because, for reasons unknown to me, bees liked to land on me and use me as a chair.

Eventually, I calmed down and I learned to coexist with bees. The day came, however, when I realized that I wasn't just coexisting with bees, that I actually loved bees. Bees are beautiful and their existence inspires me to do better. I love watching bees pollinate flowers. I love watching how their movement had so much purpose. I am fascinated with the way that honeybees live in an organized society, with a queen and workers and drones. The bees are focused completely on the group, the hive, the swarm.

Bumblebees mostly build their nests underground, but they find other places to nest, such as abandoned bird nests, hollow logs, or even compost heaps. Honeybees build complicated hives, which resemble large apartment buildings.

Honeybees build their own houses out of beeswax. Their houses are in an elaborate pattern, with little rooms for each bee. Each bee has a little space of its own. What is better than a space of your own? 

We can't exist without bees. We wouldn't have apples or pears or squash without the work that bees do. Not only do they work, they communicate in cool, beautiful ways, by dancing. It's called waggling.

They tell each other many things by dancing. And they give directions to bees from other colonies. They tell them where to find flowers that can provide them with pollen and nectar, where to find a drink of water, and so much more.

The bee world is beautiful and inspiring, and I thank all of the bees who (without realizing it) posed for these photographs! The paintings came from photographs. I didn't ask a bee to pose long enough to make a painting!