02/11/2021
Appleton, WI
February 11th, 2021
7:15am
-5° F (-20.5° C)
You think you're cold?
Let me tell you what I think about all winter.
Yes, I am cold too, bitter cold is harsh on humans.
But humans including myself get very little consideration from me this time of year.
It's the bees and other pollinators that are ALIVE and not hibernating or incubating(eggs in wait) in these conditions.
Honeybees are doing all they can to keep their queen warm and she must be kept warm to stay alive and productive, and she can live many seasons if her workers are strong in numbers, because they will literally kill themselves to do so.
Mourning Cloak Butterflies are very much awake, alive, and staring unblinkingly into our winter void, holding out in a crack, or crevice going completely unnoticed until being the very first butterfly to be seen in spring, almost anywhere north of the Mason-Dixon. They are the longest lived butterfly species (11 months), and they literally have anti-freeze properties that flow through their veins to keep their cells from freezing, and rupturing like anything else, including ourselves (frostbite).
These creatures are cold blooded, their mobility and metabolism is directly subjected to current conditions. Above 45°F? Flying free. Below 45°? Slow as molasses. Below 32°F? Not moving, but very much alive and aware.
-22°?? Fuuuucchh..😮😲🥶
So maybe next time that cold wind bites at your exposed skin? Remember these pollinators, these beautiful insects. Because by comparison we have it easy, we can warm up, we can shelter in our comfy human terrariums and mini human zoolike habitats.
They truly have it harsh, yet they weather through it all without a single complaint, and emerge with gratitude and grace.