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.
Mango - I'm up north of you a bit- knotweed is just barely beginning to flower in the Skykomish Valley-it's gonna be early, and it looks like it will be a phenomenal bloom. Put the supers [or add another] back on the hives.........
- Only goldenrod around here seems to be at the nursery...
I've been smelling it for a few days here, north of Albany NY- with just the slightest yellow haze visible across my fields and marsh which are still pink and cream with Joe Pye weed and Boneset. Seems early to me, too, but this season has been characterized by peculiar, out of order bloom patterns.
I know people complain about the smell - and it may vary accross the country with the many local species of goldenrod - but I really like that tangy, yeasty, sourdough-like, odor.
Better chances for a good flow, I think, if it starts early than if the main bloom holds of until the cooler, drier weather typical of late August/early September. Nothing we can do about it, though.
I still find humor in how we can define happiness, After a very wet spring and summer dearth, our hives can smell like dirty socks and we're tickled. I guess it's all in the perspective how we define the "sweet smell of success." Oh please bring some my way!
Ours is starting to yellow up with only a small percentage actually "bloomed". I thought I smelled it in a couple nucs... but I haven't seen the pollen come yet.
Time for me to wax some medium foundation and get some frames built. See if I can't get some honey supers drawn.
Michael, last year our fall flow seemed to be... nonexistent. I don't remember the weather exactly. You mention hot and humid. Is that the main trigger for a "flow"? We have had tons of rain in May and June and July was even pretty moist compared to normal. It's a little dry now, though.
How much does ground moisture factor in?
Alas, goldenrod refuses to grow at our place. For some reason it cuts off sharply a couple of miles away. May be our soil conditions. We get abundant wingstem instead.
its blooming here and the single bee entrance on the bottom board of a dbl deep 5fr nuc is stained yellow from pollen the last few days,no smell yet,other six hives very busy gonna look inside this weekend
I would guess we are 10-14 days from any nectar flow here. The first round of bloom is ussually not a productive variety.
About 30 years ago we had a good fall flow. Can't remember the ground moisture levels , but it was not too dry. The weather was 3 weeks of clear skies, highs in the low 70's, no rain.
The early goldenrod is abundant here, but it's the alsik clover that the bees are currently bringing in, the whitest wax and clear honey, a change from the yellows of buttercups, trefoil, dandilions, and other wild yellows in this area .
NO smell in my yards although I see bees on the goldenrod. All my yards have purple looestrief blooming and the bees are pretty loyal to it right now. Tall goldenrod just about to bloom.
No smell yet here, but yellowing and some starting to open. The sweet clover is still in the last gasp of blooming stage, so looks like no dearth here this year. Which is great because I have a bunch of nucs.
JC
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