After a frustrating afternoon dealing with intransigent and
insensitive humans, I need to go to the bog to find the bees. It’s been a
bitter-sweet day. I need to heal my heart and mind. It’s getting to be late,
but the sun will have warmed patches of the blueberry flowers, making the
nectar flow, so I hope I will see some bumble bees. A group of us met here a
few days ago, but it was raining and bees were scarce, so we talked carnivorous
plants, bees and bog bodies. I was thrilled to share my love of Camosun bog
with others who will never be the same, now that they have visited it. This is
a special place, and the people who meet at the bog have a bee-blessed bond . .
. also frog-blessed. This is especially true at this time of the year, when the Pacific
tree frogs, aka Pacific chorus frogs, are singing their hearts out to attract
mates. Immersing oneself in this sound should be a rite of spring. I vote for attending
frog and bumble bee musicals as essential life experiences: bog concerts for a
better life.
Today the bog is busy with humans, birds and bees. I hear
the “hank, hank” sound of a nuthatch and squint against the sun to see if that
hummer on the power line is an Anna’s or a migrating rufous. An older couple
guide a toddler along the boardwalk, his curiosity and wonder clearly mirrored
on their faces. And there are bees . . Bombus melanopygus, B flavifrons,
B sitkensis and B mixtus. I’m surprised I’m seeing smaller bumble
bees already. I chase a little sitkensis around and think she’s too
small to be a queen. Could it be the first workers are out already? Sure
enough, a few moments later, I see another small sitka bumble bee with smudges
of pollen packed onto her corbicula and she is moving fast! I try to track her,
focus and snap photos, but I’m rusty after a long winter, and I take lots of
shots I know will be blurry. For the sake of identification, even some of these
less than optimal photos can be useful when I’m posting them on iNaturalist. I’m
so pleased a sitkensis queen has established a nest. I wish her a flourishing
and abundant life. I’m so happy to be here chasing the bees until I lose the
light. I take some photos in the shadows and then I get ready to head back to
the house.
Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night and fret over
the decisions I have made in my life. Have I been a good mother? A caring
friend? Am I a worthy and responsible human? But spending time chasing bees
with my camera until the little lanterns of blueberry blossoms grow
dim makes me feel a life-affirming harmony. My worries fade into the background
like the ghost of a vernal frog’s chorus in the distance. I have done what I
could today. It’s time to sink into a calm state of gratitude and go home to
feed my belly and take a close look at my photos. Que sera, sera. Whatever will
bee, will bee.