Im sure everyone is sick of talking about golden rod but.....saw the first blooms of the season in 93F degree weather today. Plants look super healthy, much larger and better looking than in years past. If we get a good rain the flow is on!
The girls were going nuts this afternoon when I checked em, but they ain't working the GR yet. Im seeing large amounts of White, yellow pollen coming in with a little orange and black. Very suprising in this heat and for the little amount of rain we've had the past couple of weeks. The yellow stuff is from a similar looking plant, it may be in the GR family but not what I call classic GR. I think the white stuff is from somekind of vine or bush that just started blooming. We need a good rain to get the nectar started. Im hoping the weather front will produce good rain, the north and eastern portion of the state has a much better chance.
White may be morning glory in the corn fields, we have some blooming right now with big white flowers. Bees love them. Black or dark brown is probably white dutch clover, or maybe some white or yellow sweet clover still blooming. We had some short goldenrod blooming a couple weeks ago, but the tall stuff it getting ready to pop open shortly, it showing yellow on the tops.
My bees are hauling nectar like crazy, I'll have to check on them tomorrow, I'm hoping for a fall harvest again this year.
We ended up with about 3" of rain this weekend. Im excited Going to the yard tomorrow to put on supers. Will take some pics of my local field of bounty! ;-)
Here in Columbia, KY. goldenrod is blooming everywhere. We also got a couple of inches of rain over the weekend. Sure hope they fill the hives as most of my hives were completely empty a week ago. Thank God for goldenrod!
Bill, your first pic is a good one, frame-worthy! I was wrong about GR, no blooms just buds. Flow should pick up in the next week or two! I can't believe im still seeing clover.
Looks the same in South Jersey as it does in the above photos.
The only exception is the Japanese Knotweed. That stuff is everywhere along the fields and highways and the bees are working it hard.
Hopefully they make some honey from it.
Jersey is probably a week ahead of us. I don't think we have knotweed down here in Kentucky. I've been looking for it without any luck. Tree honeysuckle is the main invasive plant here along highways and unfortunately the bees don't work that variety. Its a shame because the stuff is literally everywhere you go.
We lost one variety of goldenrod due to dry weather. The larger stuff is just emerging due a bit of rain last week. Beek around here and myself are not seeing our bees on it. Don't know why...they aren't on asters either.
Updated pics. GR started to bloom, but the bees ain't working it, I saw maybe one ot two bees on it in the hole field. They are all over the yellow flower with large pedals, anyone know the species?
Also working white snakeroot, the source of white pollen. Things are getting pretty dry here, we need rain!!!
Thank you. The girls love it. It produced a decent little flow before things dryed up.
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Beesource Beekeeping Forums
1.8M posts
54.7K members
Since 1999
A forum community dedicated to beekeeping, bee owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about breeding, honey production, health, behavior, hives, housing, adopting, care, classifieds, and more!