Beekeeping has changed me.  I have never been good at observing what is happening around me.  I am the person who doesn’t notice that someone has new glasses, a new haircut, or an amputated limb.  Months usually pass before I realize a building along my commute has been demolished.  I become deeply engrossed in my thoughts and  miss what is going on around me, but the bees are changing me.  Now I pay attention to flutters in the grass because the movement could be caused by bees on clover.  Weather forecasts suddenly hold my interest.  I notice the progression of wildflower blooms because wildflowers feed the bees.  The fact that bees make me more aware of the natural world may not come as a surprise, but this new sense of awareness has also spilled over into other aspects of my life including my reading of the Bible.  Until I began keeping bees, I never realized how frequently honey and bees are mentioned in the Bible.  Continue reading →