It’s March 20, the Spring Equinox. A time when nature recalibrates, realigns, rebalances; people, plants and animals (including honeybees!) will enjoy approximately 12 hours of daylight, and 12 hours of night. The equinoxes are the only times when the solar terminator (the "edge" between night and day) is perpendicular to the equator. As a result, the northern and southern hemispheres are equally illuminated.
The equinox is just one example of how the forces of nature always work towards achieving homeostasis. In every moment we breath in, and then we breath out; the sun rises each day and sets each night. The honeybee colony grows in spring and wanes in autumn. And, halfway between winter and summer, we will experience the equinoxes. We are part of nature, and, just like the honeybee, we seek balance.
Sometimes we get our balance with the help of friends -as seen here with the the honeybees!
But here’s the thing about spring. If you look at a honeybee today-- on the equinox, balance might not be the first thing that comes to mind. The girls (as we lovingly call them) are BUSY! Like all day-long busy. Like non-stop. So, where’s the balance there? How does that fit into the equation?
It actually makes perfect sense. After a cold winter, when few flowers are in bloom, honeybees spend much of their time inside the hive, conserving their energy. But with the start of spring, the sun is out-- and so are the honeybees. After very little activity during the winter months, honeybees will kick into high gear to get the most out of the spring nectar flow. So, if you look at it that way, their spike in activity is helping them work to rebalance their colony’s resources and thus, attain optimal health of the hive.
Springtime honeybees
And here’s the truth of the matter. The perfection of nature is not about “achieving” perfect balance. We never really achieve balance, because then we’d have to stop. And this life is about living.
All of us has our own unique constitution, our own rhythm to balance. As you welcome spring and recalibrate your day and nighttime hours, we invite you to listen to what your body says it needs. You know what’s right for you. Just like the honeybees know what’s right for them. Equality and balance are in the doing, not the achieving, so enjoy the equinox and all the blessings of spring!
HGO beekeepers checking on our ”honey girls”