Bees with Rose Spice on Their Feet

June is the month of roses and therefore the month of bees in my gardens. You really can’t have one without the other. When we moved into our current house there was a wonderful line of wild roses that survived years of neglect. I could replace them with some modern hybrid species, but I look upon them as deserving of a place in the yard because they are survivors. Hardy, aromatic and beautiful when they bloom once a year, I love watching how attractive they are to the large variety of bees that still frequent our yard. 

Early one morning I spent a long time watching the bees collecting pollen and buzzing in and out of the just opening roses. It is said that the hum of bees is the voice of a garden. And this garden was doing a lot of talking. “Busy busy. Growing growing. I am beautiful. Smell me. It is summer.” The bees had their pollen. I had my coffee cup. The sun was shining and the air was full of the scent of roses. I wanted to stay.

As I watched the bees dancing in and out of the blossoms I thought of one of my favorite quotes about bees. “Bees do have a smell, you know, and if they don’t they should, for their feet are dusted with spices from a million flowers” - Ray Bradbury. These bees had rose spice on their feet. And so I was glad that we had kept that old line of roses. I will be back to spend more moments with the roses and the bees next year. And for that one day, at least, I felt like there was some rose spice on my feet too.