November 09, 1989 - The World Prepares for Down Time814 The Suffolk Times • November 9, 1989
The World Prepares for Down Time
ev Paul Stoutenburah
We awoke this morning and found the
back pasture white with frost. My walk
with the dog became another adventure
in our changing world. Frost surely
does tell you in no uncertain terms that
the seasons are changing and colder
weather is ahead.
By the time I got out, the sun had al-
Focus on
Nature
ready dissolved the whiteness of frost
where the morning rays touched. Now
only the shadowed areas that he beneath
the big old cherries and willows down
by the pond clung to their lacy crystals
of ice. When I'd bend down to examine
a blade of grass or a bit of clover, I'd
see a miniature world of delicate, frozen,
lacy designs that would stay but a short
time before the warmth of the day
would take them away.
Most of our frost is created at night
when the air is still and clear. On
cloudy nights the overcast acts as a
blanket and reflects the heat back to
earth. This keeps the ground from
cooling off and therefore prevents frost.
Winds evaporate the moisture and don't
let the dew build up, which is necessary
for frost. Last night when the winds
dropped off we had a lot of moisture
build up, our cars outside and our plants
near the ground felt the chilling temper-
atures that dipped to the freezing mark,
creating the whiteness of Jack Frost.
FIRST FROST —With the falling leaves and the frost of a few days ago
there is no doubt that winter is on its way.
Many plants are killed by the first
good frost because the juices in the
plant freeze and, like the pipes in your
house if unheated, burst by the expand-
ing ice. Once hit by frost there is little
you can do to revive your coleus, impa-
tiens, begonias and other sensitive
plants. Of course, some wise gardeners
throw a cover over these plants, thereby
prolonging the inevitable and gaining a
few more weeks of blossom. In the end
the cold of winter will take over and
what was once a blossoming array of
beauty becomes a droopy lifeless mass
of mush, one of nature's steps in the
process of decay.
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It's all part of the life - and -death role
we all play in this wonderful world of
ours. Luckily we've been able to pro-
long our lifespan by living in heated
homes, wearing proper clothing and by
creating a healthy food supply the year
round.
Some plants are able to withstand the
cold of winter by dying off and becom-
ing dormant in the ground. When the
temperature warms up the perennials
start new growth in the spring. Trees
don't die off but continue their growth
from where they left off in the fall.
Plants that cannot survive in the ground
during the winter must devise other
ways of continuing life after the winter;
that, of course, is by seed. So annuals
are planted each year so that we may
reap the rewards of their wonders and
beauty.
We picked the last of our apple crop
today, one of the old standbys, Rome
Beauty. They clung to their past like
giant Christmas tree balls for by now
the leaves had all fallen. We probably
would not have picked them even now
but the birds were enjoying them and
digging holes to get at the soft flesh be-
low the crimson cover. I'm a lover of
birds but I also enjoy my apples and so
our orchard is stripped clean with the
exception of one or two left just for the
fun of it.
Last week in between rains and blows
we took off our honey from the four
hives in the orchard. It was a little late
in the season but when you don't have a
spinner of your own, you must borrow
one — beggars can't be choosers. It's a
lot of work but well worth it. We had a
good day with lots of sun and little
wind so the bees were not too upset
with our robbing their hard - earned
honey.
Cups Must Be Removed
To get the honey out of the frames in
the hive we must cut the caps or tops
off each waxy comb This is done with a
heated knife that melts the wax the bees
have sealed each comb with. Now the
uncapped combs in the frames are placed
in the spinner that whirls them around
throwing out the honey. This in turn
runs down the sides of the spinner and
is collected at the bottom. From here it
is strained and bottled.
We think we could have taken a bit
more off the hive but I always like to
leave an extra -good supply of honey for
the bees during the winter months; bees
stay active and move about to feed in-
side the hive during the cold winter
days. The high- energy honey is what
keeps them going. I'm told bees make a
huge mass inside the hive and are con-
tinually moving from the inside to the
outside. In this way everyone gets a
chance to live on the warm inside and
has to take his chances on the colder
outside.
But today, as the sun rises higher and
higher and the temperature climbs above
the 50s, my bees will be out scouring
for that last bit of nectar found in the
lingering dandelions, in the chrysanthe-
mums of our garden or the last bit of
pollen from the roadside asters. They
never stop in their search for food for
this will help the colony survive
through the winter.
In the old cherry down by the pond
there is a big cavity and in it lives a
wild beehive. It, too, is alive and
healthy. In colonial times when a honey
tree was found it would be cut down to
get the valuable honey.
The changing color of fall leaves and
the frost last night are true indicators of
what's ahead. A marsh hawk that works
the open fields out back now has an
easier time of hunting, seeing the leaves
have fallen and the grasses are dying off.
The mouse that had that protection of
cover will now have to be on the alert
more than ever for his world is exposed.
The world is gearing up for leaner days
ahead. Some will make it, some will
not. The ones who do will pass on their
genes so that next year we'll enjoy
the hawk, the trees, the flowers and the
wonderful world about us once again.
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