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Have You Smelled It Yet?

33K views 211 replies 94 participants last post by  JWPalmer 
#1 ·
On Monday, August 3, I was adding some combs to strong nuclei. About noon, I thought I got a little whiff of Goldenrod. Maybe. Could have been me. By 4pm I was sure. The unmistakable sour smell of Goldenrod nectar a week early. The bloom has hardly got going yet and already the smell. Now we need some hot humid weather to turn the bloom into a flow.
 
#33 ·
It's been blooming here for over a week, I've seen it in the ditches but there's so little of it that I haven't caught a whiff of it yet or I would have pulled honey. A few more weeks is all I need before I let them start building up for winther :)
 
#36 ·
it started to bloom about a week ago here cumberland mts north east tenn. and thought I got a wiff as I was putting robber screens on some nucs. we aint getting as much rain as i'd like to see. next chance mid.next week. hope their wrong again.
 
#43 ·
Yes! I smelled it this past weekend and thought, "Uh oh....foul smell - something is wrong." I could not find anything though. Thank you for the reminder! I have quite a bit of goldenrod around the hives. It was just starting to bloom. 1 Hive hit me with a wave of foul air when I opened it. The other 4 hives right next to it did not smell. They must not have found it yet (or I really do have a problem!).
 
#52 ·
Started blooming in southern Minnesota about a week ago. Looks like the girls are bringing in lots of pollen. Caught a whiff of "sourdough" the other day.
 
#55 ·
I did a bike ride on a local parkway today, and it was blooming. I couldn't smell a thing, even up close. It was only being worked by the occasional black wasp. When sweet yellow clover blooms there earlier in the summer, there are honeybees all over it, so I know there are hives close by.
 
#58 ·
I honestly think it smells good. The sweat socks is a little bit of a joke I think. Eitherway, it does "smell" humid to me... if that makes any sense. I think it has a sweet smell, but there's other stuff riding on it. It is probably what you are smelling.

My backyard smells strongly of it overnight and early in the morning, especially if it's a calm day it just kind of sits inside the yard surrounded by 6' privacy fence. Pollen varies at bit, but it's pretty much orange. They are packing a good amount of it away here.
 
#60 ·
I was in one of the hives today and took off some wacky honey filled comb. I was anticipating a taste, but it ended up tasting like a wet barnyard cow to me. It smelled similar. Would anyone describe goldenrod like that? It's been blooming for a few days around here and the bees are working hard and drawing new foundationless comb well. White, a few different yellows, and orange pollen streaming in good too.
 
#96 ·
I was anticipating a taste, but it ended up tasting like a wet barnyard cow to me. It smelled similar. Would anyone describe goldenrod like that?
Oh, my!! :) I have to admit, I'm not sure what a wet barnyard cow tastes like. . .but I am fairly sure I don't want to try it! Not only can I smell goldenrod, but it has been blooming all round my yard for the past 2 weeks or so. My hubby is allergic, but I am noticing those full pollen sacs of bright orange piling into the hives of late.

I suspect another super will be in my immediate future, on both hives, if I am lucky!
 
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