I think I might have mentioned a few weeks ago when I was mowing the bottom half of the hay field that I had briefly thought about leaving some of it because so much Goldenrod was coming up out there. After looking around a bit more I realized there was no point as this year there is Goldenrod EVERYWHERE!!!
This has to be the largest volume of Goldenrod blooms I have seen since I started keeping track about seven years ago. I never remember seeing so much Goldenrod in the back fields, along the fence rows or in empty lots before.
I have once again been neglecting my bees while focusing on sheep and hay. Last time I checked about a month ago several of the new hives had not built up enough to justify putting on a new super or brood chamber yet.
Here is one of the small hives today and we barely made it up into the mid to upper 80's with mostly cloudy skies. Bearding like that usually only happens when it gets well into the 90's or over crowding is happening.
Needless to say checking hives has now moved to the front of my "To Do List". I won't be able to revisit the list until Monday but there is another few weeks left to the flow yet so hopefully I am not too late to allow the girls more storage space.
As for the flow itself I can't say what it's like inside the larger hives yet but I can say that the distinctive Goldenrod honey smell that usually starts in late September or early October is now so strong you can smell the hives about 50 foot away. It's a hard smell to describe and I wouldn't call it the most pleasant of aromas either. It's kinda combination of imitation Maple syrup and dirty athletic socks.
But it makes great honey!!!!
I won't be able to make the final call for another few weeks yet but I am betting this years Fall honey harvest is going to be the largest one around here in a very long time.
Next Spring may even be a swarm season for the record books too. Looks like I am going to be banging together a lot of bee woodenware this Winter.
Keep Prepping Everyone!!!!!
that is great!
ReplyDeleteevery year we get this type of autumn honey from a beekeeper here.
it helps daughter fight off headaches, which makes me think her headaches are allergy related.
the honey really helps with allergies.
considering all the miseries afflicting bees these days it is nice to hear good news.
DH - I have noticed that the late Summer Allergies seem to cause more headaches than the earlier ones. My son get's them and so do I which is one reason I originally started keeping bees. I get headaches worse when the nights start getting cool again.
DeleteI have noticed some states seem to have less bee die offs than others.
Lots of it here to, I see a few bees but there must not be any hives close enough to really go after it hard. I have a feeling that we are on the edge of their territory but will come here since I don't cut the weeds.
ReplyDeleteSf - Goldenrod is funny though. I have seen it look 100% blooming and still no bees. There seems to be a time after it looks fully bloomed where the bees really like it. There seems to be a long bloom period for all of it to catch up that gives the bees a couple of weeks forage time on it.
DeleteThat is very exciting, wonder how much honey you will get. Do you sell it PP?
ReplyDeleteLW - Yes I do sell it. I have so many people stopping by and calling the honey rarely makes it to an open sale though. I am hoping this year will be a bumper crop though.
DeleteI am jealous! We are in a somewhat of a dearth here. We have no goldenrod in Oregon.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/plant-of-the-week/solidago_altissima.shtml
MV - That kinda sucks you are in one of the few places it doesn't grow. I tell ya it is one of the most important bee plants around here. I would be hard pressed to say if it is Goldenrod or Dutch Clover that takes the top spot.
DeleteI love goldenrod, Its something I plan to plant again as we have none here, it makes a nice wine too :-)
ReplyDeleteDawn - I read in the link MV gave above that it was introduced into Europe and grows there now so I bet you can introduce it easily.
DeleteIt's great stuff for the bees but most people think of it as a weed.
How exciting! Sounds like a bumper crop of honey in the works... Would be wonderful to need a lot of new bee boxes for sure come spring!
ReplyDeleteTexan - Ya. A few more years of growth and I plan on selling excess hives off each year but I am not quite there yet.
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