The Maples Hum a Song of Spring
On this day I was sitting at the kitchen table and happened to look out the window. That was when I noticed the tree was a flutter with little winged objects. I stepped up to the window for a closer look and saw that it was full of bees! Grabbing my camera I went out for a look . We have lived here for three years and I’d never seen anything but birds in my maples trees.
On this day there was a symphony and the orchestra was supplied from my hive.
Today the sun came out and melted quite a bit of the snow. This made everyone happy. Especially me! Even the chickens were no longer afraid to walk in it.
The bees came out for recon and some house keeping duties. Considering the temperatures we’ve been experiencing I thought their losses were minimal.
The geese, now able to come back to their own stomping grounds, found buried treasure beneath the snow.
I was surprised to see that left over collard greens, abandoned the day it began snowing, looked perfectly delectable. The geese sure didn’t pass them up!
Though not entirely melted the snow was thinning quickly. We needed to lay down straw to keep the mud from sticking to everyone’s feet and thereby keep it out of the house.
It felt good to be outside working!
What did you do this weekend?
Its been so hot that the bees are spending much of their time hanging around on the outside of the hive. Especially at night. Even though the temperature drops down into the 70’s they will still be found bearding on the front of the hive. The sound of thousands of little wings fanning away the heat is mesmerizing and will go on for hours after the sun sets.
1:30 PM: They were very busy flying to and fro, in and out of the hive all day today. Their mission in life, in spite of the heat, is to find nectar and keep the hive going and growing.
10:30 PM: It is amazing to see everyone sitting on the front stoop and fanning to draw off the heat. I switch off the light. I love standing there in the dark to listen to the hum of all those little wings.
And tomorrow they will go out and do it all over again.
We have new members on our farmlet.
I have begun another task in my new life. I have begun to keep bees. I am not an apiarist, no not really. I am merely a supporter in their cause. For an apiarist is: “One who keeps bees, specifically one who cares for and raises bees for commercial or agricultural purposes.” I look forward to watching the hive grow and getting a bit of honey for my friends and myself, but more importantly I need their services in my garden. For that to happen I need to take very good care of them.
I like this shot because it has action and depth. I love the bee’s shadows!
Also on our farmlet are the goslings. When I was young we had geese for a while. Right up to Thanksgiving and Christmas that is. I loved Guss-Guss and Goose-Goose. They used to follow me everywhere and like Mary’s Little Lamb they even followed me to school (several times actually). Poor mom. She would get a call in the morning: “Mrs. Strong, would you please come and get your managery?” For you see it was not only the geese, but my billy-goat “Dumbell” and my dog ‘Butchie” as well.
There are two females which are gray and two males who are turning white. This was their first official ‘swim.’ Water bowl diving doesn’t count!
And finally, I have replacement chickens! I am so happy for this! By the way, I never did get any compensation from the owners of the renegade dogs. Not because I couldn’t, but simply because I just could not bring myself to go over there and ask for money for replacing the birds. I think it had something to do with pettiness. I felt that to ask for the $90 dollars that is the going rate was out of the question because they could not afford it, and to go ask for the $15 dollars (the actual cost) to replace the birds was just petty on my part. It would not help me that much because it is so little and it would be like ‘rubbing it in,’ as they say, to go over there and ask for it. Bygones.
I thought to post a picture of the group, but decided on just two from the group. These two are such characters! The little black one is so feisty! Almost from the first week he has challenged me when I put my hand into the brooder, and as you see he was the first to make it out of the brooder under his own power! He used to sit up there and survey the world several times a day. When he jumped down and went ‘walk-about’ I knew it was time to take everybody to the outside hutch!
Feisty!
This little buff colored fellow is called a Buff Polish. He is the the epitome of independence, and has no fear as he struts about the world of chickendom… like he owns all he surveys! He looks a bit silly now, but wait till he is full-grown. His color will darken and he is going to be a beauty!
Oh yes, and Bob the confirmed chicken hater who once stated that “The only chicken I like is the one on my plate” well, he actually likes this fellow! So he and his mate will be Topper and Tippi and are destined to be our living lawn ornaments.
Topper!
Life on the Farmlet 