It’s the first of July this weekend—my favorite month of the year; appropriately greeted by a maiden voyage in my canoe, followed by cold beverages in the sand. It was hot and sunny—just as it should be in my humble opinion.  Not one thing was accomplished on my to-do list today. It was perfection.

Abundance

This past week has marked a turning point in our beehive, and in our summer too, it would seem. The week of the first day of summer marks the beginning of the honey flow here in Colorado. This means that the local vegetation is exploding with blooms and that our little ladies are running themselves ragged trying to keep up with the flow of nectar and the job of turning it to honey. Thus the term: “honey flow.” As an aspiring bee keeper, I am on the lookout for what I want to do/should do/need to do/want to learn to do/should have done as it pertains to our hive to make sure the girls are healthy (and that we get to taste some honey, too).

Armed with this ‘honey flow’ knowledge, I donned my veil and headed out to the hive to add another box to give them room to store the fruits of their labor this month. In the process I found a ton of honey and nectar with little room for larva, as well as some other mysterious storage behavior in the hive. I’ve been perusing YouTube and my bee books to help me get to the root of this behavior to be able to judge it highly successful or worrisome.

My little apprentice was with me today and I was marveling at the way the bees were so gentle with us as she calmly pumped the smoker while I pulled out frame after frame, box after box for closer examination. Everything that they have worked at this season was held in the sunlight under scrutiny, and the bees remained amiable.

Under construction

Similarly, our house is under construction this week. Though we love many things about our home, some of the quick fixes of earlier owners have proved less than helpful. So, our home is stripped down, bare and ugly, exposing the things that weren’t done right the first time, in the same way the beehive has been opened up, completely exposed to the light in the hopes of a mutually-beneficial care taking.

Little Miss has spared no words describing how awful our house looks at the moment, wondering why we would ask someone to do this? I imagined the bees wondering that same thing after the thorough examination their home went through this afternoon. The beauty in both of these scenarios is that they each have good bones—a strong starting point—and therefore will not only withstand, but benefit from the attention and repair being done to make for a sturdier home in both cases.

These exposing shake-ups are great metaphors for the times I find myself scrutinized in a way I don’t like–I have to ask myself if I operate with the same wisdom. Who or what is examining the details or my life and how am I responding? Can I be open to the circumstances that reveal my weak points, really? How often do I see these details as growth to be celebrated, building upon a strong foundation?

For courage to see potential and shake-ups with the eyes of a carpenter and a bee- charmer. Amen.