Listening for Spring

I’m waiting to hear it. Sometime around dusk as we sit around the firepit resting after a day of garden work, we will hear his voice, and hers responding. They will probably be far back in the woods that surround our house and their call will echo from hill to hill.

Whip-poor-will! Whip poor will! I have always wondered what poor Will did to deserve a whipping, but that sober thought doesn’t detract from the music of the Whippoorwill as he calls to his love and she responds in kind. Closer and closer they come, their songs also coming closer, until at last they are singing in unison. Ah, yes. Spring has definitely come. For when we hear the Whippoorwill, we can be fairly sure that the killing frosts are behind us. Of course, the birds can be as wrong as the weatherman in their predictions, but I have found them more accurate, at least at predicting when we can plant the tender crops.

There are other spring sounds I listen for too. The surprising day when I realize the wind is actually rustling the leaves on the trees is one. Winter’s winds sear through the trees creating ghostly howls and even screeches as the branches whip about. And then one day, I will notice a softness in the breezes and a quiet rustle in the woods. The leaves have grown large enough to make that sweet sound, and even to cast a small shade on the ground.

Even earlier in the season the bees will be about their work. The maples in the yard will be budding and the honeybees will be hard at work gathering nectar to replenish their supplies of honey that dwindled during the cold months. Even in winter we might see them out on one of those warm, sunny days that surprise us in mid-winter. But when the maples and the daffodils bloom the bee are out in force, and I am happy to hear them because I know then that they’ve come through the cold season one more time.

One sound I do not look forward to, however—the lawn mower. It has to be done or we will be living in a brush patch but the first roar of that motor foreshadows months of trying to keep ahead of the growth. I think the old-timers might have been on to something when they tethered sheep to do their mowing. It certainly had to be quieter.

The early morning sun will be greeted with a symphony of bird calls, from the rough grating of the nuthatch to the beautiful melodies of wood thrush, brown thrasher and cardinals. In the trees, loud chirping will announce the arrival of nestlings in the many nests around our house. It is quiet here in the country, but it is a quiet that is filled with music, and each season has its own melodies.


The songs of spring are the harbinger of hard work, but also of the promise of another season of beauty and plenty. 

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

Busy Days

Retirement certainly is tiring! Who knew I'd be so busy that the days are still not long enough to get everything done? I suppose I knew that in theory, but in actuality--whew!


Yesterday was one busy day. Our bees arrived at the post office so Larry made a quick trip to pick them up. Once home he set about putting them in their hive, and while he was at it he checked on the other two hives and discovered that we needed to harvest. While he was busy with that I was making the jam I wrote about last night, baking bread and doing laundry. When we reached a stopping point we spent some "porch time" and assessed the rest of the day. Since the rain had held off we decided to plant some tomatoes. I swear this is the latest we've ever put in our tomatoes but with the daily rains we've had it's been just about impossible to get any planting done. We also got in a few hills of cucumbers, some beans and corn seed and I put out some romaine lettuce plants.

We got chased to the porch by some brief showers once or twice while planting but we got about 50 tomatoes in the ground before stopping. Dinner was followed by more planting--flowers this time. Then as evening settled in we ate spaghetti on the deck and enjoyed watching the Cedar Waxwings continue their bombardment of the mulberry tree. Larry brought the laundry in from the clothesline and I sorted it and put it away, then got to work listing a few things on eBay and packing sold items for mailing, and finished up by writing my blog for the day. Bedtime came early and was mighty welcome!

Today we relaxed a little. It rained all night (perfect for our plants) so instead of hustling out to do more planting we went into town for the Ripley on Sale event--yard sales all over town and all over the courthouse lawn. I found lots of bargains, some to sell on eBay and others for us to keep, and we saw many friends as we meandered around. I was happy to find some really big sheer curtains that I plan to use to cover my cherry trees when the cherries start to ripen. I don't mind the birds getting the mulberries, but the cherries are mine! Other cool things were wood bushel baskets, some nice kitchen utensils and, very, very best--a stainless steel egg poaching pan for $1.00. My mother had one exactly like it and I loved those poached eggs. I can't wait to try it out.

When we got home Larry donned his bee suit and headed to the hives. He brought in the frames of honey and put them in the honey extractor, whirling them around to spin the honey out of the comb. I don't have photos because I was busy in the kitchen getting jars ready. When he brought in the honey (about a gallon this time) I skimmed off the bits of wax, dead bees, etc and then jarred it up. It went beautifully this time--no bees in the house like last year! The honey is light and just beautiful. Larry also found that one hive is building a queen cell so he is planning to go out there again on Sunday and try to split the hive. Wish him luck.

Tonight I've been getting ready for storytelling at Vandalia tomorrow. I can't wait to head to Charleston to hear the great old-time music, see friends at the storytelling tent and browse the arts and crafts. It will be another long, full day of this restful time they call "retirement."

Oh, Honey!

This morning I was up to my elbows in elderberries and elderberry juice, the peppers were still staring at me from their basket on the floor and a half-bushel of cucumbers was waiting on the porch.

I heard a knock at the door.

I went to the door, and there stood my husband in his bee suit, holding two frames of honey. "Here," he said, "take these."


I looked. The frames were crawling with these...


and honey was dripping on the floor.

"Uh, no," I said. And closed the door.

Of course, I couldn't just back out on him at that point. I knew he was going to the hives and planned to bring back some honey. I was so busy with berries I didn't consider that I might need to get something ready for it. And Larry figured I'd take care of whatever he brought back.

As I scurried (grumbling loudly, I assure you) around the kitchen trying to find clean containers for catching the honey--everything is full of berries, berry stems, juice, and squished-out berries--Derek and his crowd arrived.

Oh boy. Now we had bees, honey and kids on the porch. Someone was bound to get stung. Hannah immediately let out a shriek. "A bee is on me." Haley's answer? "Well, duh, Hannah. You're stepping in honey." Haley had a bee on her hand at the time (pictured above--she also took the photos for this post, while holding a bee.)

Me? I was still grumbling and fussing at Larry while Derek laughed at both of us. Old people, I bet he was thinking. Listen to 'em! He studied the situation and figured out what he needed to do to calm down the old woman (that would be me).

Hannah overcame her fear to watch her Dad cut honey off the frame. Poppa Larry got out of the bee suit and out of the way. I ran around trying to figure out what and where to put the honey. I knew where I wanted to tell Larry to put it, but it would not be nice to say it here. Just kidding. Really.

In the kitchen, I put chunks of comb into sterilized jars and strained the rest of the honey through my jelly straining bag, which happened to be already set up for the elderberries. A clean bag and a pan was all it took and I was in business.

Finished product: almost a gallon of honey, ready to use. And not one bee in the house. Amazing.

I was sticky from my elbows to my fingertips, don't ask me how. I had managed to sticky up a lot of pots and countertop too. Haley hosed off the porch but there are still some sweet spots attracting a few bees.

But we've got honey! Considering the amount invested in our hives to date, I'm figuring each jar so far has cost us about $40. Two of the hives were new this year, so we may not harvest any honey from them until next year. It's going to take a while to recoup the investment in hives, bees, tools, suits, veils, smoker, and so on.

That first taste of honey made the expense worthwhile. We'll take a little more this year, not much because we want to be sure our bees have plenty to keep them over the winter. Next year, if all three hives survive, we should get a lot more.

Sweet thought.

It Sure Was Buzzing at Work Today

In a quiet alley in a small city in West Virginia there was a small tree. And in that tree...
was a swarm of honeybees! Did they cause a stir? You bet. It was on our library's property, so guess who has to figure out what to do? You got it.
It wasn't so hard, either. First call was to my husband, who'd just started a new hive at home on Monday. He could just come down and hive it! But he wasn't answering the phone.

Second call was to a beekeeping friend. No luck there either. Third call to the Extension Service, who promised to find someone. Thirty minutes later, still no help on the way, but the Extension guy gave me the number for the Ag Dept. Called them, got two possible numbers and got lucky on the second call.

Gallant beekeeper suits up. We'd put up cones and signs to warn people on the walkway because there were literally thousands of bees flying around. Quite a sight.

Into the tree...
and down with the bees. Into the box...
and lid on.
Unfortunately, many bees were still in the tree, but with the queen bee now gone, these stragglers will probably be gone tomorrow.

Why were they here? Apparently a hive somewhere not too far away had built a new queen cell, which had hatched. The bees liked their new lady and left with her to find a new home. They chose the tree by the library. Not a great place unless you're an urban bee.

That's the quick explanation. Beekeepers reading this, can you offer more information? It was quite a sight, and made for a very buzzy day at work.

The Queen Bee: A Tale from the Brothers Grimm

When I was a child, I read and re-read the stories in my copy of Grimm's Fairy Tales so often that the book is now in tatters. I traveled to enchantment with each reading, even though when I read them now I am astounded at the level of violence in some of them. Children seem to take such things in stride--perhaps it is because we got toughened up on the playgrounds?

I do not remember ever reading this story. It seems a timely tale, with the bees beginning to fly again, and talk of starting more hives buzzing around my house. This is from an online etext, which credits the Household Tales collection, but also says the working is not identical and the exact source of this version is unknown.

I like this story for its non-violence, the discouragement of bullying, and the gentleness of the writing.

Two kings' sons once went out in search of adventures, and fell into a wild, disorderly way of living, so that they never came home again. The youngest, who was called simpleton, set out to seek his brothers, but when at length he found them they mocked him for thinking that he
with his simplicity could get through the world, when they two could not make their way, and yet were so much cleverer.

They all three traveled away together, and came to an ant-hill. The two elder wanted to destroy it, to see the little ants creeping about in their terror, and carrying their eggs away, but simpleton said, "Leave the creatures in peace, I will not allow you to disturb them."

Then they went onwards and came to a lake, on which a great number of ducks were swimming. The two brothers wanted to catch a couple and roast them, but simpleton would not permit it, and said, "Leave the creatures in peace, I will not suffer you to kill them."

At length they came to a bee's nest, in which there was so much honey that it ran out of the trunk of the tree where it was. The two wanted to make a fire beneath the tree, and suffocate the bees in order to take away the honey, but simpleton again stopped them and said, "Leave the creatures in peace, I will not allow you to burn them."

At length the three brothers arrived at a castle where stone horses were standing in the stables, and no human being was to be seen, and they went through all the halls until, quite at the end, they came to a door in which were three locks. In the middle of the door, however, there was a little pane, through which they could see into the room. There they saw a little grey man, who was sitting at a table. They called him, once, twice, but he did not hear, at last they called him for the third time, when he got up, opened the locks, and came out. He said nothing, however, but conducted them to a handsomely-spread table, and when they had eaten and drunk, he took
each of them to a bedroom.

Next morning the little grey man came to the eldest, beckoned to him, and conducted him to a stone table, on which were inscribed three tasks, by the performance of which the castle could be delivered from enchantment.

The first was that in the forest, beneath the moss, lay the princess's pearls, a thousand in number, which must be picked up, and if by sunset one single pearl was missing, he who had looked for them would be turned into stone. The eldest went thither, and sought the whole day, but when it came to an end, he had only found one hundred, and what was written on the table came true, and he was turned into stone.

Next day, the second brother undertook the adventure, but it did not fare much better with him than with the eldest, he did not find more than two hundred pearls, and was changed to stone. At last it was simpleton's turn to seek in the moss, but it was so difficult for him to find the pearls, and he got on so slowly, that he seated himself on a stone, and wept. And while he was thus sitting, the king of the ants whose life he had once saved, came with five thousand ants, and before long the little creatures had got all the pearls together, and laid them in a heap.

The second task, however, was to fetch out of the lake the key of the king's daughter's bed-chamber. When simpleton came to the lake, the ducks which he had saved, swam up to him, dived down, and brought the key out of the water.

But the third task was the most difficult, from amongst the three sleeping daughters of the king was the youngest and dearest to be sought out. They, however, resembled each other exactly, and were only to be distinguished by their having eaten different sweetmeats before they fell asleep, the eldest a bit of sugar, the second a little syrup, and the youngest a spoonful of honey.

Then the queen of the bees, whom simpleton had protected from the fire, came and tasted the lips of all three, and at last she remained sitting on the mouth which had eaten honey, and thus the king's son recognized the right princess. Then the enchantment was at an end, everything was delivered from sleep, and those who had been turned to stone received once more their natural forms.

Simpleton married the youngest and sweetest princess, and after her father's death became king, and his two brothers received the two other sisters.

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Sur La Lune seems to be the only online source for the detailed story notes from this collection, which is in the public domain.

Here are the notes for this story, from SurLaLune:

Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm. Household Tales. Margaret Hunt, translator. London: George Bell, 1884, 1892. 2 volumes.

Notes

From Hesse, where we have also heard another story differing in various ways. A poor soldier offers his services to the King and promises to win for him the most beautiful maiden. He is royally equipped, and on his way, when he passes by a great forest, he hears the song of many thousands of birds resounding delightfully through the blue air. "Halt, halt!" cries he. "The birds must not be disturbed; they are praising their Creator!" and he orders his coachman to turn round, and drives another way. After this he comes to a field where many thousands of ravens are crying loudly for food. He has a horse unharnessed, killed, and thrown for the ravens to eat. At length he comes to a marsh where a fish is lying pitifully lamenting that it cannot reach any flowing water. The soldier himself conveys it to the water, and the fish wags its tail with joy.

When he comes to the princess, three tasks are given him, which he must accomplish. In the first place he must gather together again a peck of poppy-seed which the King has had scattered. The soldier takes a measure, a sack, and some white sheets into the field, and spreads out the sheets there. Presently the birds whose singing he would not disturb, come, pick up the seeds, grain by grain, and carry them to the sheets, and the soldier sets before the King the peck which he has had scattered. In the second place he has to fetch a ring which the King's daughter has dropped into the sea. The fish which he had placed in flowing water brings him the ring from under the fin of a whale, where it had fallen. Thirdly, he is to kill a unicorn which has taken up its abode in a forest, and is doing great damage. The soldier goes into the forest, and there the ravens which he rescued from starvation are sitting, and say to him, "Have patience for a little longer, the unicorn has only one good eye, and now he is lying on it, and sleeping; but if he turns round, and sleeps on the bad eye, we will peck out the good one. He will then become furious, but, as he will be blind, he will run against the trees in his fury, and stick fast with his horn." Soon afterwards the animal turns in his sleep, and then he lies on the other side, on which the ravens fly to him, and peck out his good eye. He leaps up and runs against an oak-tree and sticks his horn firmly into it.

Then the soldier cuts off his head, carries it to the King, and receives in return for it his beautiful daughter, whom he takes to his master, by whom he is royally rewarded.

In Netherlandish, see The Grateful Animals, No 4. in Wolf's Wodana. In Hungarian, see Gaal, No 8.

In Persian, Touti Nameh, No 21 in Iken. A certain King dies and leaves behind him two sons.

The elder usurps the crown; the second leaves the country. He comes to a pond where a snake has caught a frog. He calls the snake, which leaves hold of the frog, and it hops back into the water. In order to compensate the snake, he cuts off a bit of his own flesh. To show their gratitude for these benefits, both the frog and the snake come to him in human form and serve him. The prince enters into the service of a King, whose ring falls into the water when he is fishing, and who orders the prince to get it out again for him. The frog-man reassumes the form of a frog, goes into the water, and brings out the ring. Soon afterwards the King's daughter is bitten by a snake, and no one can save her from death but the snake-man, who sucks out the poison from the wound. Thereupon the King gives the prince his daughter to wife. And now the two faithful servants take leave of him, and make themselves known to him respectively as the frog whose life he had saved, and the snake to whom he had given a piece of his own flesh to eat.

See the story of Livoret (3, 2) in Straparola. In the Jewish Maasähbuch (chap. 143 of Rabbi Chanina), the King first gets to know about the Princess with the Golden Hair, by a single hair which a bird one day (as in Tristan), lets fall on his shoulders, and which it has plucked from her head while she was bathing. On his way Chanina shows kindness to a raven, a dog, and a fish. The tasks set him are to procure water from Paradise and from hell, and the grateful raven brings a small pitcherful from both places. Then he has to get a ring out of the sea. The fish prevails upon Leviathan, who has swallowed it, to spit it out on land, but in the meantime a wild boar comes and swallows it. And now the dog attacks the wild boar and tears it in two pieces, and Chanina again finds the ring. The end is entirely different; for instance, when Chanina has brought the bride home to the King he is taken into high favour by him, and for that reason is murdered by the envious. But the young Queen, who is very much devoted to him, sprinkles him with the water from Paradise, by which be is immediately restored to life. The King wishes to make a trial of this likewise, and orders one of his men to kill him, but the Queen pours the water of hell over him, by which he is immediately burnt to ashes. She says to the people, "See, he was an impious man, or he would have been brought back to life again;" and marries Chanina.

There are some more details in Helwig. There is a certain amount of resemblance to Ferdinand the Faithful, No. 126. The story of the White Snake, No. 17, is like this, and so is Soldier Lawrence in Pröhle's Kindermärchen, No 7.

Bees and Flowers

I could hear the buzzing as soon as I stepped outside. It didn't seem to phase Otis who continued to snooze in the morning sun.

Aha!

They were hard at work, coming in from our hive a good distance away. With the drought we've been having this past month, there's not much left in bloom, and Larry is still feeding our bees almost every day. The bees were working my salvia plants (I have also heard this plant called pineapple sage, but I'm not sure this is the same plant--anyone know? I like the bright red with a touch of fuschia coloring, and it really comes into its own in the Fall).


Taking photos of honeybees is not easy to do! It took many photos to get some that weren't fuzzy. And then there were quite a few with pretty flowers but no bee because while I was focusing, they buzzed off.

Hiving the Bees

Yesterday was B-Day--the day our honeybees arrived. Odie drove to a tavern near Columbus, Ohio to get the bees. (Yes, you read that right. Imagine a tavern full of bee packages, queens in cages and guys drinking beer. Bizarre and true--bees were flying everywhere, Odie reported, and people were still ordering hamburgers. Oh, for a picture of that!)

Odie and his Dad arrived back about 5 pm. We jumped right in to get his hive set up. None of us, mind, had a clue what we were doing. I'd had bees 30 years ago, but my memory was hazy--I still had the book, a honey extractor, a smoker and the desire to try again. I never could work the bees before, though--fear made me an easy target. This time, maybe I'll try--but my husband Larry can't wait. He worked bees with his Dad when he was a kid 50 years ago. The others in this venture are rank amateurs.


Derek helps Odie suit up. We cobbled together an outfit with Tyvek coveralls, a funny little veil I bought at a yard sale (we think it was a mosquito net for a child, actually--it touched nose and cheek so the guys sported a piece of duct tape on their noses to keep the veil off so bees could not sting them), gloves Larry got at work, and the essential duct tape to secure all.

Sis and I put the feeder solution in the hive. We didn't have bee feeders either (not being aware we'd need them) so mountaineer ingenuity came into play. I made the sugar syrup (5 pounds of sugar to a gallon of water--those bees are going to rot their teeth out!) and put it in plastic gallon jugs. Then we used a needle to punch tiny holes in the jug so the solution seeped out. It seems to be working just fine.

Derek observes closely as Odie places the queen cage in the hive.

Shaking the bees out of the package into the hive.

Done! With bees all around him, Odie celebrates the completion of hive #1.

Then we moved on to Derek's place, about 20 miles away. (I bought two hives for us, one to put on our place and one to put over at Derek's.) Odie returns the favor of helping to suit up. Attractive outfit, isn't it?

Derek places his queen in the hive,

...and shakes in the bees. Done!

I don't have pictures of hiving the bees at my place. For several reasons: although things went smoothly the first two times, by the time we got to my house it was 8:30 and getting dark fast. We'd left the boards for my hive stand at Odie's; the tractor, which we wanted to use to haul everything out to the hive site, would not start; we needed to make another gallon of sugar syrup; then we used a pin that was too big to punch the holes and I had to run for another gallon jug.

It was 9:30pm by the time we finished, but these bees also went into the hive easily despite all our emergencies and phoo-pahs.

Then it was time to feed the pigs and SIT DOWN! We were all tired but elated. We had three hives set up and ready to go. All we need to do now is order all that stuff we should have had in the first place.

Oh--and when we finally got to the house and sat down---Larry came home. He'd been taking tests for a possible job. Or so he said. The timing was very suspicious! (Actually, he was sorry to have missed it all.)

Ah well. Learn by doing! And we learned a lot last night--like how very cool this is going to be.

The Bees Are In

We finished installing the last bees at 10 pm. I'm tired. Satisfied but tired. A million thanks to Odie, Andrea and Derek. Three hives started in three hours isn't bad.

Photos will follow tomorrow evening, if all goes well. It was an amazing evening.