Much has been said and written about the crucial role bees play in our shared ecosystem, and rightly so. At least a third of the food we eat — all of the good stuff, like fruits, vegetables, and nuts — is pollinated by them and other insects. We depend on them.

They’re also marvelous to watch, which you can do on almost any warm and sunny day wherever you find flowers in full bloom. So it was easy, over the course of a few recent visits to our neighborhood park, to collect the footage of busy bumble- and honey bees that can be found in the video below.

But which song to sing? Bee-inspired melodies range from the speedy and virtuosic (“The Flight of the Bumblebee”) to the laid-back and jazzy (“A Sleepin’ Bee”). But my favorite is a deep and dreamy one that my brother wrote a couple of summers ago.

At the time, Danny, who teaches at a Waldorf school in New Hampshire, had just graduated his eighth-graders and was getting ready to meet a new first-grade class in the fall and to start them on their journey as elementary school students. He must have seen the honey bee as a good metaphor for the moment when he’d meet these children in their development. Yes, they would be small and would seem to belong to their own ethereal world. But they would also be capable of mighty things and deserving of the encouragement and freedom to do them. His job wasn’t only to teach what he’d learned from the past, but also to follow them into the future. After all, someday we will depend on them, too.

Song:

“My Honey Bee”
By Daniel Foster

My honey bee, fly down to me
And I'll follow you, visit every flower, the wonder of your garden
I don't know the way but I'll learn with every step I take
Don't pass me by — oh, honey bee, I love to see you fly.

Beautiful world, tender and true
The secrets that you hold are waiting to be told and I'm ready to listen
Like the honey bee, it's time to be wild and free
I may be a little child but I'm ready to spread my wings and fly.