The Magic of Spring – Welcome Queen Bumble Bee

Finally, there is the most favored season of the year, spring. The magic of spring lies in the higher temperatures, the life that is awakening everywhere around us. The sun is shining, temperatures are rising, flowers come up about, and you hear the insects flying, especially the beautiful sound of the bumblebees.

The birds are singing; the hedgehogs are waking up. Everything looks bright, waking up from the cold wintertime. I love the spring; I love the warm temperatures, warming me up, the smell of the flowers, and the cute bumblebee queens, which are flying around to get the first nectar and polls for their breed.

My little fairy garden is waking up, and even the nights are still cold, around zero * Cel, the days are already warm. That is the time people love sitting outside of a cafe, drinking their coffee, and enjoying life around them. Unfortunately, due to Covid 19, we can’t sit on a terrace and have a coffee or lunch.

Of course, we can still walk in the forest, taking our backpacks with us, surrounded by the birds and forest, we can drink our coffee sitting quietly in nature. This is also a beautiful moment, sensing the insects flying around, observing the rich, beautiful colors of the Rhodenendron and Azaleas. Beautiful!

Hooray- Finally, Spring!

Winter is gone, and freezing temperatures too. Even I love winter for sitting warmly inside the house, observing the birds at the feeding houses, I am so glad that the warm temperatures sign a new beginning, as the season stands for a new time of the year, a lively time.

Spring and autumn are, for me, the most beautiful seasons anyway. I finally can work in my garden, cutting the deadwood and old flowers away, noticing the fresh little leaves coming out of the wood, the first plants are flowering, my wild honey bees are waking up, searching for the first nectar and polls of the season.

The bees stay inside when it is cold, but the bumblebees are already flying from flower to flower. Spring is waking up life in ourselves, too; energy increases, joy, and peace inside us while listening to the season’s sound. I am cleaning my garden lights, and the bird-feeding houses are disappearing into the shed, signaling the birds the need to search for insects to feed their children. It is always amazing that the birds are in the first days of cleaning up their feeding places confused, looking still to be fed until they understand they need to take responsibility for their stomachs and seek insects. Every spring, it takes some days to get used to the birds, especially the sparrows. I observe them very precisely because, until half May, we can still get snow and ice, but most of the time, it is only on the nights that temperatures decrease under zero.

Spring is the time of beautifying my garden, so it becomes an oasis of life; flowers, plants, frogs, insects, little mammals, birds are all busy living their little life.

The pond needs to be cleaned up slightly, so the water flowers can grow, showing their beautiful natural faces. I love to sit on a chair in the sun, listening and sensing the sound and atmosphere. Relaxing! Do you know what I mean? 🙂

Spring in My Garden

This year we will be busy having agreed with our neighbors to renew the wooden fence that starts falling apart. But I decided to do this in autumn when nature is asleep around the end of October. This is a time where we don’t disturb the lively business in our garden.

But I have to say, even I have lots of flowers, I get fewer bumblebees and butterflies, and this is disturbing me. It says that my surroundings use toxins in their garden or there are not enough plants that these insects love and need. I see a decline in numbers already happening for years, worrying. There are still neighbors closing the holes while the bumblebee builds her nest or kills them, thinking they are like wasps, but these insects are not interested in the neighbor, only in flowers.

We need more education to keep our world alive. People know so little and are far away from Nature, not interested in the little world around them. I am always very happy for every person who treats the animals and insects concerning their nature, interested in increasing bees and butterflies.

My garden is small but beautiful, and especially for wild animals and insects, whose presence is such a joyful moment for me. We will build a rooftop garden for the insects and birds this year, hoping they will multiply.

I have seen that our Peachtree has many blossoms this year, and I hope that the bees and bumblebees have pollinated the flowers, promising a good harvest for the butterflies and wasps and other animals, but also ourselves.

Do you like peach jam? Yummy, self-made jam from organic peaches, so big as a bit of ball. The taste is impressive, and I give away lots of glasses with peach jam; my friends and neighbors love them. Sometimes they are so many that we have difficulties storing the peaches, so I cut them in pieces and store them in the freezer.

I also have two grapes in my garden, a blue and a white, which birds and insects favor at the end of August. You hear the sound of wasps eating from the grapes, especially the white ones. Growing in the Netherlands, a country where we don’t have short summers in the east, they taste pretty well; I like the blue ones. In our neighborhood, in Deventer, a city nearby my hometown, there are vineyards, and the wine is yummy.

Otherwise, I have many different herbs, like munt, melissa, rosemary, and thyme, but I don’t use them in the kitchen. I love them for my bumblebees and wild bees; they are full of flowers every year and are highly favored by my bees, bumblebees, and certain butterflies.

It is straightforward to design a herbal garden and grow berries and fruit trees, which the bees love. 🙂 And us too! You can find a lot of information on developing a herbal garden on the internet!

The Magic of Spring

When I still lived in Germany, in Bonn, close to the river Rhine, I loved the awakening of Nature, and I walked a lot in the vineyards and the forest, but also along the river. The temperatures there are excellent, already very warm in early spring, they call the city Bonn, the Nice of Germany, which is a comparison to the French city Nice, and this is a correct impression, regarding the temperatures, and the magnificence of the flowers, and the old houses, for me the most beautiful city in the world! The area is gorgeous, inviting visitors to hike and have a tasty glass of wine close to a vineyard or in a unique restaurant.

Here in the Netherlands, only three hours’ driving time away is it flat and cool; however,  we have the forest and the Hanseatic cities in our neighborhood, which makes up for a special atmosphere throughout the year. In spring, when everything is flowering, it is a joy walking through these old cities, sensing the awakening life between the ancient walls of the houses. If you love history, you will undoubtedly love this country.

It is so easy to get around for English-speaking people because Dutch people speak mostly all English. Many people from the States of America or England live here, even working their jobs while speaking their mother language.

When I arrived in The Netherlands in 2005, I have worked as a nurse, speaking only German and English; it was not a problem to get around.

You will not live in Germany without speaking German, showing the Netherlands is quite international, making this country a popular place to live and work for foreigners.

Spring is an excellent time to visit Keukenhof, a beautiful area with many parks and gardens full of tulips and other flowers. If you plan to visit the Netherlands, I recommend visiting Keukenhof and other gardens. You will be amazed at how artistic these areas are designed, all the beautiful colors. You can google Keukenhof.

Welcome, Little Bumble Bee Queens!

I think the bumblebee should be the insect of the year 2021. They look so cute with their hairy bodies and different colors. Such a beautiful and cute bee that is observing them lets your heart shine in love for them. In the Netherlands, and indeed, in other countries of the world, many bumblebees have entirely disappeared due to the pesticides and herbicides used on the plants grown for the garden centers and used in farming.

It hurts my heart! We depend on them very much for our crops, all our plants, vegetables, to carry fruits. If the bee dies, we will die within two years.

Pollution has to stop; we need to return to our roots! Why do we need so much light during the night, and why does farming pollute our world, using pesticides we also consume. Why do we need foreign fruit and vegetables? Why do we need so much clothing and stuff for our houses? Why? We need to return to our roots, stop consuming and living life becoming ill, burdening the health system of our countries.

Stop, rethink, and return!

We have exploited the planet enough, so let us stop doing it! We will be happier and healthier, living a meaningful life instead of the emptiness many people try to fill by overconsuming. The planet will be very thankful, so the cute bumblebee and other insects and animals. Let us do everything we can do to save these beautiful insects! And finally, the planet!

Final Thought

Spring is the beautiful season of awakening; all insects, animals, and flowers are coming to life. Humans feel the same in Spring, showing that we belong to Nature and the life cycle. We must stop pretending that we are superior to the animals and the Planet, urgently needing to live a sustainable natural life, save the insects and animals, and our beautiful world. Spring is the season of a new beginning, for the life cycle in all of us, insects and animals. We are created depending on the seasons!

We shouldn’t want to live a life in an artificial environment! I don’t want to live this life artificially.

What do you think? What is your thought reading my article? Please share with us your opinion below in the comment section! I would love to hear from you! 🙂

All the Best,

Sylvie