Why the Bees?

As I turned onto South Cobb Drive and into the parking lot of our new, red-brick home, I was not thinking about bees. I was getting ready to set up our expanded operation in a nicer, newer building that could accommodate our patients. 

However, while taking the tour of the backyard, I heard an unfamiliar and, at first, unwelcome buzzing. Bees. There was a whole colony of bees right outside our practice!

For the first few weeks, I’d look outside my window, glancing to see if the colony was still buzzing around its hive or had moved on from its current perch. I wanted to take bee spray or a swatter to the hive; it could detract from our patient experience and make our office waiting room one for sitting ducks to get stung. As I realized that the bees were not going anywhere, I tried involving them into our daily lives. 

“Mental health can be like these bees. We want to ignore it, avoid it, or treat it at the surface level, but we need to address it head-on.”

After a few weeks of setting the bees up in hive bodies (or bee boxes as I call them), I tried my hand at beekeeping, and I thought I was doing a good job of it until winter came. Sadly, the majority of the bees didn’t survive the abnormally frigid Atlanta winter. I felt like I was a failure as a beekeeper. But I wasn’t ready to give up on my bees, so I bought a second colony and moved them into the hive body. Today, I can hear these bees buzzing around outside my office.

At first, these bees were nothing more than a nuisance– I wanted to ignore them, avoid them, or get rid of them. Mental health can be like these bees. We want to ignore it, avoid it, or treat it at the surface level, but we need to address it head-on. 

“Taking care of yourself is a journey across all the seasons of life.”

Just like bees are incredible pollinators and key to their environment, our mental health is a key part to our internal ecosystem. Our mental well-being dictates how we address our physical health and spiritual health, and even when winter comes and the hive bodies seem empty, that is the moment for resilience. 

Taking care of yourself is a journey across all the seasons of life. Whether winter is quiet or spring is buzzing, picking yourself up and building your resilience capacity can change the way you think about and deal with life’s challenges. Don’t quit immediately– hold out for your spring.