Goldenrod

[abeille]

Hi,

Goldenrod is in full bloom around here, but I don't know if the bees are foraging it. I watched them as they came back from the field yesterday, and some were carrying dark brown pollen, but most of them had none. How goldenrod pollen look like ?

Hugo

[ikeepbees]

My recollection is that it is yellow, but my memory has failed me before.

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Rob Koss

[BILLY BOB]

Yellow to gold. Goldenrod isn't the best nector around so if ther is any other plants in bloom the bees will most likely be working that.

BB

[BjornBee]

Goldenrod is not a favorite source but when in full bloom the bees will work it very hard. It is usually in Sept/Oct when nothing else is available that it is a main source. Many of my hives have been saved by goldenrod in the past. Last year it was killed off by the frost too early. This year it started blooming early (to much rain?) but the main bloom is still yet to come. After this past summer, I am a huge fan and cheering on the goldenrod all the way this year.

Goldenrod honey will usually be darker and a bit stronger, but it can add another flavor or choice for your honey to market.

[hoosierhiver]

also there are literally a hundred or more species of goldenrod in the u.s. ,i'm sure some are more preferable than others.

[honeyman46408]

When the girls are working goldenrod you will smell it in the beeyard it smells to me like something soured.

[Scot Mc Pherson]

Any strong strong honey is a good candidate for making Mead which is a drink that is most often fermented to be like a sort of Wine.

Great stuff if you have the patience.

Down here we have palmetto honey which makes excellent mead.

[abeille]

For how long Goldenrod stays in "nectar production" in your regions? ANd what are the plants that the bees tend to prefer that are blooming along with goldenrod ?

Hugo

[NewBee]

In my neck of the woods goldenrod is not quite in bloom yet. It will be soon, I have seen it in south Jersey and we are about two to three weeks behind them. I have a few customers that specifically request the Goldenrod Bloom Honey. It does smell funny in the hive, but, has a full body flavor.

[abeille]

Newbee,

Â*
>It does smell funny in the hive, but, has a full body flavor.

A friend of mine exteracted a super this week and the honey has a kind of cinammon smell. Is this the smell you are reffering to ?

Hugo

[WineMan]

Around here cinnamon typically means milkweed

[honeyman46408]

I only notice the funky smell when the girls are bringing it in.

[NewBee]

Hugo, No...like the other person said a cinnamon smell typically is milkweed....the smell from goldenrod is a sourish smell and comes in mainly when G is being worked. Steve

[abeille]

I don't think we have milkweed that north. So the little smell of cinammon must come from another source. There is a plant that I see a lot in wild fields and on roadsides that is blooming at the same time as goldenrod. It seems to grow a lot in ditches or where the soil stays humid. The flowers are tiny and kinda pink-purple.The general look is a long (about 3-4 feet tall) stem with a lot of those tiny flowers on top of it, arranged a bit like an umbrella. ANd when you see one, you see thousands of it. It grows in bunch.

I saw a lot of bombus and butterflies working it, but I have yet to find bees on it. But I am there only once a week for an hour or so, so I may have miss them. Perhaps if they forage it, that is the plant that gives that cinammon smell. I know it isn't easy to describe a plant without a picture of it. I tried a lot to find one on the net, but didn't. Maybe I should bring my camera next time...

Hugo

[This message has been edited by abeille (edited August 19, 2003).]

[BULLSEYE BILL]

Sounds like ironweed to me. I have not seen my bees on it either.

Bill

[mnist]

Judging by the fact that it grows in ditches, you might be describing a plant that belongs to the swamp weed family (eupatorium) also called Joe Pye weed

Here's a picture http://www.blupete.com/Nature/Wildflowers/JoePye.htm

But! if it's ironweed then it's a member of the thistle family http://www.marysplantfarm.com/_photo.../iron_weed.jpg

Doesn't really matter which one it is -- bees love them both

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First Year Beekeeping Journal: http://s00r.van.wessem.net:81/mnist/blog/

[abeille]

YESSSS!! THAT'S THE ONE !!! Thanks mnist

I was looking for that plant's name for a week or so. It is Joe Pye weed. There are loads of it around my hives, along with goldenrod. But as I said, I am yet to find a bee on it. The other major flower around the hives is lots and lots of red clover.

So you say that bees do forage Joe Pye weed ?, What kind of honey does it make ?

Hugo

[hoosierhiver]

my bees like the joe-pye weed,but it seems to take awhile after it starts to bloom out before they go for it.

[abeille]

I noticed yesterday when entering the beeyard a definite smell of something sour, or maybe a bit like old potatoes. The bees are now gathering a orange-yellow pollen. I suppose they now are working goldenrod.

As for joe pye weed, I am looking everytime I go, but can't find bees on it.

Hugo