me and my partner wear out watching the bees the other night.
she noticed a strange odor and said that dosn't smell right , to the best of
my remembering its allwys been there!
but now I'm nervous!
the odor seems to be coming from all the hives, its hard to explain.
its kind of like a beeswax smell, kinda sweet but has a slight wine smell
or somethng close to it.
there are not really any dead bees at ent. and they all seem healthy,
I was going to check a few the other day , but it rained.
is this the smell of ripining nector ? golden rod perhaps ?
or are all my bees just drinkin and havin a good time?
through the summer I have not noticed any bad brood or REALLY SOUR
smells when I'm in the hives,or deformed bees or a large amount of mites or anything else that caught my eye!
signed nervous again!
Look at the brood. Look for shiny, sunken pierced cappings. If it looks healthy don't worry about it. It's probably Goldenrod honey. Goldenrod (or something that blooms at the same time) while it's curing smells like old sweat socks.
im no one to be giving you advice, but I think small hive beetles will uncap, defacate in honey, and make it smell a little like wine. Also, walk up to a goldenrod and see if that isn't the smell you detect. but also look for shb.
golden rod....
My guess is goldenrod honey coming in.
Do as Michael bush suggests - Take a look at the brood just to be sure there are no brood diseases.