Beauty and the Bees

On the Cover: Bumblebee costumes from Holly Henson, Sewbiz Designs. Flowers by Creative Floral, Pacific Grove. Models: Isabel and Lorenz Cushman.

Springtime is here, and even after a mild, sunny winter, the world is filled with still-surprising promise. The winter-green fields are splattered with bolder colors. Vacant lots from Carmel to Marina are filled with orange poppies. Purple wild irises bloom at Toro Park, Point Lobos and Garland Ranch. Pale yellow flowering box trees in Monterey perfume the night air.

The honeybees are awake and buzzing.

Let us consider the bee, and remember what we learned when we were children.

The most industrious of creatures, the honeybee is the flower''s best friend. The bee alone knows the trick of pollination. Buzzing relentlessly from blossom to blossom all spring and summer long, the honeybee brings the flower everything it needs to make a seed, to make another flower. The bee loves flowers and so it helps make more. This is a happy accident.

The bee seeks the flower only because of its own desire for sweet nectar. With its weird, thousand eyes, the bee sees pathways we can''t see (ask any scientist-the flower''s fine scent and pretty petals are byproducts of this deeper chemical allure). The bee follows these attractive chemtrails deep within the folds of the flower petals, where the nectar pools.

The flower seizes this opportunity to stick its pollen on the bee''s knees, or to swipe the pollen that some other blossom stuck there. The bee buzzes off, and the dance is repeated, seven or eight times a minute, all day long.

Because of this elegant trick of nature, we get all of plant ecology and human agriculture (ask any grower-the bee is key to the farm economy). We get the fragrance of roses and bouquets to give our sweethearts. And as a bonus: honey.

This year, as we celebrate the Best of Monterey County, we adopt the honeybee as our mascot and our teacher. Emulating the bee, let us use our mere two eyes and multi-pierced ears and our funny-looking noses to find the stuff we love. Let us remember that in doing so, we help this stuff to flourish. Even facing war, let us recognize that the good stuff, The Best stuff, is still here all around us, and that our love for the good stuff is a force of nature we should not ignore. Especially in spring.

-Eric Johnson