When do honeybees appear in spring?

Photos by Barry Wallace

In Ontario, honeybees do not truly hibernate but stay in their hives, beginning to fly out for "cleansing flights" on warmer days in March (when temperatures are above 0 degrees celsius), with major foraging starting in April.

Bumblebee queens emerge from hibernation in early spring, typically between mid-April and mid-May, once temperatures are reliably warmer and early flowers are blooming.

Honeybee haiku

"A bee

staggers out of the

peony"

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Barry Wallace

King Lodge Cats...

                                                                        Photo by Barry Wallace

This is a photo I took at King Lodge, north of King City, many years ago when my mother Muriel was a resident there.   These cats were a favourite of hers and most of the other residents at the time.

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Barry Wallace

Protected against the elements...

Photo by Barry Wallace

Weather-protected canine

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Barry Wallace

Another pink to try...

Photo by Barry Wallace

Toronto Star columnist Carolyn Evans Hammond, has recommended another pink delight called Pelee Island Pelee Pink (2023).   I'm about to try a bottle shortly.   This Pelee Island product is apparently a delicious blend of 86 percent Chambourcin, a lesser known grape, and 14 percent Vidal.   The result is seems is a rose' that gleams pink in the glass.   The flavour is, apparently, juicy and round with a kiss of sweetness offset by racy aciditity.   Flavours lean toward freshly picked strawberries and ruby grapefruit.   Carolyn goes on to say this crowd-pleassing style will appeal to fans of the once-popular Bread & Butter Rose' from California.   It is 12.5% alc. and 14 g/L sugar, selling at $13.95.   We shall see...

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Barry Wallace

Olympic Medal Factor favours Canada...

 

When one divides the medal counts of top countries in the 2026 Winter Olympics by the population of each country one comes up with what I am calling the... 

'Olympic Medal Factor'

When I established an Olympic Medal Factor for the top nine medal winners in the recently completed Winter Olympics, I discover that Canada is almost tied with Italy (30 medals divided by 59 million population) with a Olympic  Medal Factor  of 5.1).  Canada's Olympic Medal Factor is 5.25 ( 21 medals divided by 40 million population).

Italy placed 3rd in the official recent Winter Olympic medal count at 30 medals.  Using what I am calling the 'Olympic Medal Factor', Canada could be ranked in 4th place in a revised medal standings tally.

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Barry Wallace

King 15th Sideroad...

                                                                        Photo by Barry Wallace

                                   Come on summer...

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Barry Wallace

Chipmunk...

Photos by Barry Wallace

Chipmunks are small striped squirrels of the subtribe Tamiina.   They are found in North America, with the exception of the Siberian Chipmunk, which is found primarily in Asia.   

The name "chipmunk" originated in the 19th century, and other names for this group include chitmunk, chiptmuck, chipping squirrel and ground squirrel.

Chipmunks are omnivorous animals, and have diets that primarily include seeds, nuts, fruits and buds but may extend to include other plant matter, fingi, insects, small frogs, worms, bird eggs and nestlings. 

Their varied diet allows them to feed on plants such as grains and vegetables grown by humans which leads them to be thought of as pests in some areas.

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Barry Wallace 

King Township winter warrior...

Photo by Barry Wallace

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Barry Wallace

   Photos by Barry Wallace

Eaton Hall ~ King City ~ built in 1938 

 now part of Seneca College

                                                                                      

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BarryWallace

Phil Chardwick art...

Phil Chadwick, one-time King Township resident, one-time Environment Canada weatherman and prolific painter is still at it.   The painting above caught my eye in a recent online post of his.   The painting was made some time ago and beautifully captures the style he is so noted for.

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Barry Wallace 

Aurora Cemetery Dead House

Photo by Barry Wallace

The Aurora Cemetery Dead House (Charnal House) on Yonge Street in south Aurora was erected in 1868 to receive coffins in wintertime for storage until spring burials.  The Aurora Cemetery itself was established in 1869, and is a fine example of a Victorian period "Garden Cemetery".

It started as a 4 1/2 acre site and today is 29 acres of of winding roads, towering monuments and mature trees.   The Dead House is one of only eight such structures in Ontario.   Another one is to be found in the nearby King City Cemetery.

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Barry Wallace

Maple syrup soon...

Photos by Barry Wallace

Maple syrup making is just around the corner.   Cold nights, which we've had plenty of lately, and warming days, which are in the forecast, are the combination of weather conditions to get sap running.   The photos included here were taken at Cold Creek Conservation Area, northwest of Nobleton, in King Township, a few years ago. March and April are peak months for production.

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Barry Wallace

New Aurora United Church not open yet...

 

The new Aurora United Church, which many hoped would open in 2025, has not opened due to extensive delays from the 2014 fire, including COVID-19, unexpected groundwater issues, complex site redevelopment with the adjoining Amica retirement home, and financial hurdles.

The "Rising from the Ashes" campaign has struggled to reach its $5 million goal.   It had raised only $183,000 back in early 2025.

The congregation continues to hold services at the Trinity Anglican Church in Aurora.

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Barry Wallace

Holland Marsh winters...

 

Photos by Barry Wallace

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Barry Wallace

Rooftop Terrace at Delamanor Aurora...

 
Photo by Barry Wallace

The 6th floor 'Rooftop Terrace' at Aurora's Delamanor Retirement Residence is always a favourite spot for residents to take a stroll...even when there's a -30 wind chill.   The Delmanor maintenance staff always keep a path cleared of snow because several residents take a quick walkabout every day, even in winter!

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Barry Wallace

Barry and Pat get photobombed at Delmanor...

                                                                                  Delmanor photo

Pat and I joined a gang of our fellow Aurora-Delmanor residents at an evening of live music, dancing and singalong earlier this week.   After Pat I had just enjoyed a wee bit of a dance and were sipping some wine, a Delmanor staff photographer took our picture.   A couple of other Delmanor bar staffers seized the moment to photo-bomb us.   A great time was had by all!

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Barry Wallace

God help us all!

 

Planet Earth

or

Planet Trump?

We must decide,

we must choose!

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Barry Wallace

Crooked Little House reunion...

Ted & Lynn Bird

10 members of the Crooked Little House, a club created by me and several of my teenage friends, from the late 1960s, got together for lunch recently at 'The Mandarin' in Newmarket.   My partner Pat and I were among the attendees.

The Crooked Little House was created from an old  concrete block chicken coup, located next to the ancient farmhouse my parents, Emerson and Muriel Wallace had purchased in the early 1960s, just north of King City.   

Back then, my friends and I had guitars, a wash-tub bass, and banjo and sang ourselves silly each night into the early hours of our folk-music early 'twenties'.  A few beers were consumed as well, I must add, as we made the  music.

Ted and Lynn Bird (pictured above), of Schomberg, were on hand for the mini-reunion at The Mandarin. Ted was one of the founding members of the Crooked Little House. 

Now, 65 years later, 10 of us got together for lunch and some reminiscences.   Not all of the original members are still around, but we remember them well.

There was only one outhouse adjoining the Crooked Little House, which the guys used.   The Gals used the washroom in my parents house.   God bless Muriel and 'Em' for their goodwill and patience.   At least my parents knew where I and my friends were most of the time, and not roaring around the backroads of King Township doing God knows what.

By way of a footnote, my younger brother Bob, with two of his high school friends used the Crooked Little House for musicmaking also.   They called themselves The King City Slickers.   Bob's two friends, Russ deCarle and Keith Glass went on to become Canadian music icons as Prairie Oyster! 

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Barry Wallace

Shift sculpture is inaccessible...

Photo above and below by Barry Wallace

Photo above by Phyllis Vernon

Richard Serra's monumental SHIFT sculpture, southeast of King City is no longer accessible to the public. 

The work was commissioned in 1970 by art collector Roger Davidson and installed on his family property.

Shift is a close collection of six large concrete forms, each 1.5 meters high  and 20 centimetres thick, zigzagging over 4.03 hectares of former rolling farmland.

The present-day owner of the property wants to remove Shift to make way for housing.   In 2013 the Township of King voted to prepare a bylaw to designate Shift as protected under the Ontario Heritage Act, preventing its destruction or alteration.   13 years later everything is still in limbo.

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Barry Wallace

Winterscape Mourning Doves...

 

Photos by Barry Wallace

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Barry Wallace

Kettleby winterscape...

 

Photo by Barry Wallace

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Barry Wallace