Bumble Bee

11th January 2022. From the sunny garden at Puddle Cottage, Cornwall

I sit on the bench in the top corner of the garden, layers of clothes upon the seat to keep off the damp and the cold. I soak up the weak winter rays with eyes closed and my face directly to the sun, trying to relax the tight lines around my mouth. There begins a deep hum which quickly gets louder and closer, a deeper hum than any other bug, the heavy unmistakable and somewhat surprising hum of a bumble. My jacket is blue, the bright blue of clear skies and as the giant bee comes in to land on my sleeve I recall reading once that bees are attracted to blue. She really is huge, half of my thumb. This is exciting, a special opportunity to observe this lovely creature so close. However as she crawls higher up my sleeve she is getting rather near my face and I encourage her onto a piece of my orange peel and place her on the table beside me. Fascinated, I peer closely but very suddenly she's off, in a deep vibrating blur and I start, and chuckle at my fright. I watch her go up, up, high above the camelia hedge and away into the blue. The hum quiets. But she makes a sweeping turn and comes-a-bee-lining straight back to my blue jacket. She rests there on my belly, soaking up the thin warmth from the sun too it seems.
And in this we are now united. 2 sun worshippers on a cold January day. She really is breathtakingly beautiful. I think of how humankind tries to make beautiful things, but that nothing can compare to the wonder and beauty of the natural world. She is a perfect fuzzy creation. Each tiny hair glistens with health; soft, uniform and vibrant in stripes of black and gold. The sharp glossy detail of her back legs, serrated and engineered. 2 large black shiny bead eyes. She cleans her legs one by one in a show of flexibility I never associated with a bumblebee. And oh her wings, a shimmering lacework of silver and blue foil, iridescent in the sunshine. A miracle. As she opens her wings and again suddenly hums away, I am acutely aware that she will be the highlight of my day.