We often talk about the weather because it has so much energy to affect our day, our mood and our plans! We often get it wrong because it changes so much and it is good to teach us to be flexible always – ready for anything!

The Almanac is a helpful guide to find out more and it has explained that insects and animals can show us more about the weather patterns and movements. How exciting! Eenie wants to share some of the facts they have discovered here for you to understand what an amazing world we are living in!

Apparently ants, bees, hornets, crickets, houseflies, and other insects are on this job! Their activity tells us whether the weather will be cold, warm, windy, or fair! So actually nature has its own weather predictors and we can see from what they are doing to find out what the weather has in store. Here’s a very brief look at the insect and spider traditions and folklore that has been used for centuries to predict, for example, rain, frost, and sunny days. There is a rhyme for instance –  how high the hornet’s nest, ‘twill tell how high the snow will rest. Other examples of rhymes the Almanac gives are:

• If ants their walls do frequently build, rain will from the clouds be
• When bees to distance wing their flight, days are warm and skies are bright; But when their flight ends near their home, stormy weather is sure to

Other traditional examples of insect patterns are:

• If ant hills are high in July, the coming winter will be hard.
• When cicadas are heard, dry weather will follow, and frost will come in six weeks.
• Flies gather in houses just before the rain.
• The early arrival of crickets on the hearth means an early winter.
• The more quickly crickets chirp, the warmer the temperature.

Of course, while spiders are known as arachnids, not insects, the Almanac include these in what people oftencall creepy crawlies.

Can spiders predict winter weather? What do you think? They are a wonderful way to find out! If we watch the spiders and their webs closely we can understand the upcoming weather and the traditional rhymes that have been developed such as:

• When spiders’ webs in air do fly, the spell will soon be very dry.
• When spiderwebs are wet with dew that soon dries, expect a fine day.
• Spiderwebs floating at autumn sunset; bring a night frost, on this you may bet. Other examples to consider are:
• Spiders spinning larger than usual webs is a sign of a cold winter to
• Spiders move down from their webs before rain.

So this is such an important and interesting subject that we will continue and we thank the wonderful Almanac for the opportunity to share this information with Eenie’s World where we live and learn and share together!