weather
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Spring SnowBees
There are 58,000 bees in the basement. It’s the end of March. We turned the clocks to “summer time” two weeks ago. Last week the vernal equinox made it officially spring. Today we took delivery of four new packages of bees. And it’s snowing. At 9 a.m. we head to Snyder’s Apiary in Whitehall, windshield wipers brushing snow Continue reading
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Spinning Wheels
Let’s start with a poll: When I came home yesterday, I immediately noticed footprints leading to the front door. We hardly use the front door, so we don’t shovel to it. Maywood Man has enough to do with plowing and there’s no reason for me to shovel a walk that no one ever uses. There Continue reading
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Clouds
apple in hand looking through windows at the cloud What do you picture? A puffy white cloud seen through a window frame with a crisp Red Delicious waiting to be eaten? Or do you notice the incongruity of trying to access the Cloud using Windows and an Ipad? My day began with clouds. Real clouds. Continue reading
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Bees alive as glaciers recede at Maywood
It’s sunny and positively balmy with temps in the 50’s as we trudge through the snow to get to the bees. Some parts of the yard still measure six inches of snow. This snow is not uniformly melting so much as it is receding, like a slow moving glacier. Or, to think more positively towards Continue reading
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The hot, dry air of winter
This is the winter that will not die. Some people are tired of the cold. It’s March–when the bees are supposed to emerge to pollinate budding red maples– and the weather forecast is still calling for a temperature of ZERO. Some people are sick of the snow. My husband, for example, is outside right now chopping more firewood in anticipation Continue reading
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Plowing through snow days
So it’s Valentine’s Day, but it feels like the movie Ground Hog Day. We keep repeating the same scenario over and over. Another six inches of snow fell on top of yesterday’s 18 inches. The forecast for tonight is for another few inches–and I’m not just talkin’ snow. We’re plowing through more than snow around Continue reading
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Snow Bees and Honey Butter
There’s a break in the weather. After a foot and a half of snow, Mr. Beekeeper trudges out to the tractor to plow before the next batch of snow comes in this evening. The “break” means that it is merely raining. “Merely raining” means that the foot and a half of snow is getting packed Continue reading
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Pioneer Chronicles or More Reasons Why I Don’t Do Camping
Never underestimate a snow storm. I should know this by now. Twenty years at Maywood. We survived the Winter of 1994 when the stream froze and the ground was white with snow and/or ice from Christmas until the first day of spring. We sledded groceries down to the house…when we could get out to get groceries. Continue reading
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Bee-ing hopeful in the dead of winter
The bees are still alive! I saw them yesterday. Today a boatload of snow is falling… to be followed by frigid temperatures and a sub-zero wind chill. Already, with hours of snow yet to fall, gusts of wind whip clouds of snow off the roof and swirl it around the yard. The bees and sensible Continue reading
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Frozen Fog
Frozen fog? I’ve listened to a lot of weather reports over the years, but this morning’s was a first. Frozen fog was causing accidents all over Carroll County. The pre-caffeinated brain has trouble conceptualizing this. How can fog freeze? Isn’t that oxymoronic? Isn’t fog water suspended in the air? If it freezes, wouldn’t that make Continue reading
Slightly Off the Grid 