March 9, 2006
-
Spring sneaks in
Just when it seems like
winter will never end, spring slips in the back door. The air and
the ground turn soft and moist and the birds are exploding with
song. The green spears of tulip leaves have begun poking through
last fall’s leaf mold and there’s a faint tinge of green to the
lawn.For the last few weeks the
temperature has been stuck in the teens when I get up each day.
But yesterday – surprise, surprise - it was over 30
already. I went out to do chores and the air felt so mild and
lovely. The kind of day where I don’t want to go back in the
house. There were all kinds of diversions like “Maybe I should
just rake those few stones off the lawn” and “It would only take a few
minutes to shovel a little of that dirt onto the raised beds”.
About that time one of my bees buzzed by and reminded me that I needed
to check and see if the hives had enough honey to get them through
until honey flow. I don’t like to feed them in the spring but I’d
do it to keep them from starving.I donned my bee suit and took the top off a hive I wasn’t sure had made
it through the winter. I had put my ear to the hive several times
over the last few weeks but never heard that reassuring low
rumble. Imagine my delight to see that the hive was going
gangbusters! It was fairly boiling with bees inside. Quick
put the top back on, feel the hive to see if it was too light and move
on to the next hive. This one also was full of bees. So
they are both off to a good start. One of the little guys managed
to get his stinger in me through my suit but only a little sting.
A few others had wandered out when I took the lid off so I had to pick
them up by their little wings, show them the entrance to the hive and
pat their little bee bottoms to get them to go in. Bees are
wonderful. I don’t know why more people don’t keep hives.This morning I re-engineered the chicken pen. That might not
sound like much but it took me the better part of two hours – hauling
fence panels, fighting with unwilling and rusty old bolts, driving
fence posts. The whole operation was necessary because the geese
needed more pasture and releasing them and the chickens into the big
pasture is not an option right now – the puppies, although they are
full grown, still have not acquired adult common sense. Which is
another way of saying that they take extraordinary delight in chasing
unwieldy, heavy bottomed birds and then chewing the feathers off
them. I was assisted in my operations by Ozzie the cat (who
managed to stay on the safe side of the fence) and by Ivy the horse
(who kept looking over my shoulder from the other side). Toby and
Gracie were also much in evidence but I wouldn’t say they were much
help. Anyway, I got it all taken care of and peace reigns in the
pasture, at least temporarily. Until Toby and Gracie think of
some other kind of mischief. As Becca often says, “When will they
ever get some SENSE???” Probably not this spring….
