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The Mulberry Tree Revisited
By Dorothy MacFarlane
Posted Tuesday, November 27, 2007
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I have written about our mulberry trees before. While in fruit, they are a riot of life, and during the summer months, I collect leaves to grow silk worms at work. When fall comes, the leaves turn a sort of yellow. It is not the color that is so spectacular; it is the way they fall. Early in the morning, after some signal only the trees know, the leaves start to fall.
The leaves are thick and leathery, so when they hit the driveway, there is a sort of click sound. In the space of a few hours, all of the leaves on the tree come down. Click, click, click, click in rapid succession. Where there were leaves in the morning there are only bare branches by afternoon. Under the tree, the ground is covered in a solid heap of leaves. It is the same for both trees, all the leaves fall on the same day.
With the leaves down, I can see through to the field. Over the years, I have been spreading milkweed seeds through the field. Nature does a pretty good job, but I have been helping. The bumper crop of milkweed I wrote about in August has produced thousands of pods, with possibly millions of seeds. I love to take a handful and lift them to the wind. The field is practically white with fluff.
Each morning I grab a handful and send it up. I have taken some to work to release in our fields, too. For some reason, there is none there now. Reminds me of my childhood, which has never really ended.
On another note, I have not yet seen the Bee Movie, but I have seen the ads. I know the movie is only fantasy, but I have some problems with it. I only see two sets of legs on the cartoon bees, where there should be three.
Also, the main characters seem to be males. In honey bee colonies, most of the bees are female. There are usually a few males around for the mating season, but for the most part, hive work is done by the females. Kids who see the movie will be confused when they study bees in school, and they don't agree with their preconceived notions. I'll have to go and see it to find out if there is any accuracy at all.
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