The Mercury’s Rising

Chickens, Eggs, Maple Syrup, Reflections, Tapping Maple Trees, Weather, Winter Prep

Hello and Welcome!

Here in Michigan, we have finally emerged from the deep freeze that has engulfed us since early January. Daytime high temperatures for the next week are forecast to be above 40 F (4.4 C). I’m sure we will be dealing with a lot of mud as the snow melts, but I’ll gladly take that over the bitter cold that we have been dealing with.

With temperatures above freezing during the day then falling below freezing at night the sap will begin flowing. We won’t be tapping trees this year, we haven’t since 2017, but I suspect the syrup producers in our area have tapped their trees.

If you would like to read about our adventures in syrup making in 2016 and 2017 you click here, here and here.

The other thing that’s happening, that seems to coincide with the sap beginning to flow each year, is that are hens are beginning to lay again. We know that at least three of them are laying because my husband collected three eggs on a couple of days this week. As the days get longer and sunnier egg production will increase. I am thankful for my daughter and son-in-law and their flock who were able to provide us with fresh eggs this winter while our hens took a break.

It’s too soon to be celebrating the end of winter but this week will be a nice break.

Thank for visiting. Are you seeing signs of spring?

21 thoughts on “The Mercury’s Rising”

  1. How delightful your hens are laying eggs again, Ruth! And isn’t today’s warm weather a wonderful gift after the bitter cold and snow of January? A favorite sign of spring for me is when the birds start to chirp and sing again. That happened this week!

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  3. It has been glorious having the sun out and blue skies and finally I can get out of my driveway, that icy lump at the end of the driveway from the snowplow is now gone. I spent the last three days in different parks, taking photos and enjoying myself. I did read earlier this week that the Environmental Interpretive Center in Dearborn was tapping their trees. That was interesting Ruth – I know it is a lot of work. I remember a fellow blogger and her husband visited a forest in Connecticut which had the set-up for making maple syrup and she took detailed photos of the tapping, buckets and how they processed the syrup. Even how they made maple sugar candy in the snow.

    I have not seen any signs of Spring in the last three days of being out and about, but I did hear a Robin singing this morning but didn’t see it. I am going to see if the Snow Drops are out in the homeowner’s front yard around his big tree next time I walk. I took the car again today to give it a little run. That is my sign of Spring when I see those flowers, even if they are pushing up through the snow.

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      1. Ruth, I had to Google “bees taking cleansing flights” to learn more. I had no idea. I know they are dormant in Winter, but wow! I’m shocked they made it through our brutal Winter too. I’m sure there is more Winter down the pipeline, but hopefully not as severe as we’ve dealt with. I was surprised to read we had an air quality alert due to the particulate matter coming from the quick snow melt!

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      2. I’m sorry I didn’t explain the cleansing flights, Linda. (I got lazy.) They are not really dormant during the winter, but their metabolism does slow down. They are still somewhat active inside the hive with their main goal of keeping the queen alive.

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      3. No problem Ruth – with Google, two mouse clicks and I could find out what it meant. 🙂 I always wondered how much activity was in the hive in the Winter. I figured honey production was basically shut down as there are no flowers.

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      5. That takes enough energy to sustain them through our brutal Winters. Sadly, this warm-up is temporary and Winter is not over yet. My snow may melt away tomorrow though. My side of the street is too shady and the snow is slow to melt.

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  5. I saw a pair of bluebirds in my maple tree the other day and then there was a bunch of robins and starlings looking for food in my yard. The kitties were happy to see the birds in the yard.

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  6. My daughter in law mentioned tapping theirbtrees up there this weekend too. Such a great experience for my grandkids. We are finally warmer here too. I saw my tulips are peeking up under the wisteria.. I am so greatful spring is coming and I can get back to my walks.

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