The tree hummed. I stood beneath it while Remy looked for his favorite bathroom spot.

Sometimes that takes a while as he sniffs, eats stones and is not particularly interested in getting me back to my morning coffee.

Our Japanese maple is growing into its summer glory. Small leaves seem to grow larger as I stand there. The canopy is a lovely place to wait for the inquisitive dog.

Then a sweet phenomenon drew me from my coffee yearnings. This lovely tree had the tiniest blooms I had ever seen. They were smaller than a grain of rice. Itty bitty pink flowers. Yet that is not what captured my attention. No, it was one of our mason bees collecting pollen and nectar from these little blooms. The bee was huge compared to the flower.

Bees sleep in their little cocoons until spring comes calling. They crawl from their winter beds in search of sustenance. It is a cycle repeated for at least 130 million years. Survival, theirs and ours.

Flowers feed the bees, and the bees, in one way or another, feed the world. Without these lovely buzzers, crops would not be pollinated. Certain species of plants that depend on pollination would disappear. Our world would change. The environmental life on this globe would change. This is the reason we raise mason bees.

Mason bees are the sweetest little things. They are not aggressive. I placed one in each of my grandtwins’ hands. The bee adventured around their palms and fingers. Two children learning to embrace nature not fearing it. A “hands on” experience.

I had no idea what Remy was up to. I could not take my eyes off this one bee, then I noticed that the tree was full of them. It was lovely.

The little bee had a pink, pollen-covered butt that I noticed it as it moved on, leaving me with my thoughts.

Plant flowers. Have water available for the pollinators and birds.

We are the caretakers of this planet. So let’s get to it.

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Pamela Loxley Drake is a Beaverton resident and self-described lifelong “farm girl.” You can contact her at pamldrake@gmail.com.