[MichiganMike]

In a current thread on Michigan nectar flows a poster (danno) mentions that he removes his suppers when the goldenrod blooms. I am a first year keeper and have four very productive hives. I have already harvested 4.5 gallons of very good honey. Two hives are at winter weight now, the other two are ones I took the honey from. So my question, is the fall honey not as good as the early honey? I am expecting a significant fall production and intend to harvest all the honey that exceeds my hive weights of 135 pounds. As I said two hives are more or less there now, so should I take honey from them and replace it with the fall flow because the fall honey is not as good or plan to just take the new fall crop? I have never had bad honey and am curious why danno wants to avoid the goldenrod flow, some posters seem to be looking forward to it. My area has a lot of goldenrod in the fall. Secondarily I believe it prudent to make certain all four hives have sufficient winter weight before taking any more stores so will probably wait in any case.

 

[waynesgarden]

...and am curious why danno wants to avoid the goldenrod flow.

You'll have to ask him. I don't know any beekeepers that remove supers to avoid goldenrod honey. When I lived in Maine, that goldenrod (and aster) honey was what kept my bees alive over winter.

Wayne

 

[tsmullins]

I agree with Wayne,

But would add that goldenrod/fall honey is one of my favorites. Creamy buttery goodness. GR/fall honey crystallizes extremely fast. When we have some fall honey to sell, we always inform customers of this.

We have no problem selling fall honey at six dollars a pound. Which is higher than the average for our area. Seriously, we had people hoping for more last fall.

Shane

 

[Slow Drone]

Goldenrod is a strong tasting honey not as marketable in the north as it is in the south, you'll also notice the odor of kind of like old dirty socks. Oakland and Livingston counties both have an abundance of goldenrod in the fall particularly around GM proving grounds and Kensington Metro park.

 

[kingd]

My mentor loves Goldenrod honey but he pulls all of his supers by the 3rd week of August.
He leaves the Goldenrod flow is for the bees for winter.

 

[Michael Palmer]

Whether or not your colonies are heavy enough for winter should be what determines if you super for the flow or not. Super the heavy ones, and let the light colonies store the goldenrod/aster for winter.

 

[burns375]

I harvest the spring and early summer flow, then access weight at the end of fall and feed syrup to target. So in my case I don't plan to harvest anymore the rest of the season, unless fall flow is exceptional (rain and cool). Currently empty comb sits on the hive, they have put on a bit more honey but not much. I would never not allow them to store food. Like mike says better than feeding syrup.....you can use it to prop up nucs or light hives. Also by not supering you could force a swarms. Fall swarms do happen here although at a much lesser rate than spring....the fall swarms may be more related to mites and superceder, than to flow.

I could understand someone who harvests all at once in fall not wanting to "contaminate" the honey with goldenrod....however I wouldn't stop them from collecting natural food.

 

[Michael Palmer]

Also by not supering you could force a swarms.

Or have a honey-bound broodnest where the bees can't raise a sufficient cluster to winter well...in my area.

 

[Mr.Beeman]

The smell of the GR nectar puts some people off due to the fact it smells like old sweaty socks as it is being cured. The color is darker and has an off taste compared to the spring flow honey. I don't mind however.

 

[Andrew Dewey]

I adore GR honey and so do my customers. There is logic in the previous posts about letting the bees store it for winter food if they need it. However I'm told it has a higher ash content than other honeys which can make for a lot of crossed legs in the colony if the bees don't have decent weather over the winter to void as needed.

 

[laketrout]

From what I have heard the GR variety is a factor in the taste , I have a huge GR flow in the fall and when I heard some can be not very good I hoped mine was going to be the good one , it turned out its my favorite honey . Also the smell coming from the hives isn't sour or nasty its smells good to me.Bring on the GR , its turning yellow as we speak !

 

[dnichols]

It smells funky when they are storing and curing but when it's ready to be extracted it does not have that smell anymore. I think GR honey has a rich buttery flavor. I keep my fall honey in a temp control environment which helps against crystallization and inform my customers that it will eventually crystallize. I actually like the crystallized honey. Spread it on warm toast like butter or dissolve a spoonful in your favorite cup of tea. Yummy. :thumbsup: Put those supers on and collect yourself some GRh and make up your own mind. Good luck!

 

[Jackam]

Also the smell coming from the hives isn't sour or nasty its smells good to me.

My first experience with Fall GR was last year.
I, too, thought the smell was great. I didn't equate it to sweaty socks at all.
I'm willing to ship a pair of mine for anyone to compare.