This 90 degree heat will finish off our Goldenrod by the end of this week.
It has been strong flow for the last two weeks and is about 75% done now.
At least it will cut down on some of the feeding this fall. :th_thumbsupup:
Ours has not even kicked into high gear yet. Asters have not even started blooming. The bee's are so busy they have not even started robbing yet
The gloom of a Southern beekeeper in my area ---- never heard of a fall flow, what is that :(
It got to 96 here today, asters are well underway here also.
The girls have been working hard and packing it on. I really should have left a few supers on but the fall flow here crystallizes before I can get it into containers.
I have 9 acres of goldenrod and you can smell it when you're a block away.
I have those iddee robbers screens ready for the end of the week.
So glad I made a bunch of them last year.
sc, it's a two week period right after we work our kester's off pulling honey and killin mites. It's hectic at the bee yards followed by a mass robbing frenzy. :?
It also signals the end of our flowering plants for the year.
sc-bee--here in Lexington SC not too far away from you my bees are putting up something, I saw cells being filled. Also saw bees working Lespedeza and Rag weed for the last week or so. Not sure what they get from each of these but the ones on Rag Weed were packing in the pollen. I see golden rod blooming but a local beek said bees dont work it that much. I do know in SC just a few miles makes a big difference in plants. I'm still new at this so dont hold me to much of this LOL.
dan
Yes I get some pollen and I saw a trace of something coming in - just a trace. I hear folks up North talk about enough goldenrod to extract.
By the way my mentor is LC- there are not many in Midlands that don't know LC.
We have a vast amount of goldenrod atm... but have had NO rain... 0.0 inches in nearly two months.. mostly 90 degree temps, a couple of 100's... the Grod is blooming, but theres not much nectar from it, or anything else in the immediate area.. afraid feeding is going to have to start.. I had high hopes the ladies could polish off their stores with this flow.. I hate to see the empty cells being filled with pollen instead of honey.. at least they will have the pollen to go with the syrup.
Quote from: sc-bee on September 10, 2013, 04:10:47 PM
The gloom of a Southern beekeeper in my area ---- never heard of a fall flow, what is that :(
:laugh: I know SC doesn't get much winter, maybe there's only a little Fall too?
Without a good goldenrod flow many Northern bees would not make it through 6-7 months of winter (no available forage, NONE).
Our goldenrod flow is also nearly done (90%), asters are about half way, some thistles still around but the signs are telling me its time to begin feeding.............
Living so close to lake Michigan (Im about 7 miles) we have completely different weather then a hour inland here in Michigan or anywhere in Wisconsin. Lake keeps us warm in fall and cold in spring
saw my first asters yesterday. they are predicting spotty frost tonight with temps in the 30s. we should still be ok by the lake
Danno, it's to early for this crap. Next, we'll have some Indian summer weather with nothing for them to forage on. Here comes the robbers! :bee:
Quote from: tefer2 on September 12, 2013, 09:51:03 AM
Danno, it's to early for this crap. Next, we'll have some Indian summer weather with nothing for them to forage on. Here comes the robbers! :bee:
Yep, time to eliminate empty space inside the hives, start reducing entrances and placing mouse guards up here. Hefted all 5 of my colonies yesterday and all were heavy 8-).
Four are in four mediums, one is in five.
I'll open feed as long as daytime temps getting into the mid/high 60's, switching to overhead feeding as temps drop and finishing with dry sugar for Spring Insurance. We've got some overnight 30's predicted over the next few days.
Its time, despite a late start due to strange weather. Tomatoes, egg plant and peppers are nearly as mature as they will get, Garlic, onions and most of our apples have been harvested and stored. Just melons, cabbages, beans and root crops remaining.....yep, its time to wind down and finish up the firewood and get the bees ready for winter.........I suspect they already know what's coming.
Its the start of another BEEKEEPING season 8-)
Except for a few Mac's our apples are not ready yet.
Sounds like I need to plant a bunch of asters :-D
Aster honey will crystalize in the combs but its good food this time of the year. We had low 30's and heavy frost Friday night. That will push a lot of the golden rod over the edge
Yep, Goldenrod is pretty much done up here. Asters are peaking and are very tough and will take several frosts. Some still have flowers with snow on the ground.
Ya, just watched the weather for GR here & it's going to be in the low eightys middle of the week! Goofy weather
The stragglers will be all done by end of next week. I think all that heat shortened our flow here. I'll start to feed any that are not heavy and get my moving around done.
Next comes making candy boards to go on at Thanksgiving. It's fun to make them and watch some football in between batches. Don't think we'll need many this year. :)
Most of us Northerners will be happy for the break after winter preparations.
Now that the goldenrod is finished we have a banner crop of asters this fall.
Never seen so many around our yards. Gives them something to do for a while.
Quote from: dprater on September 10, 2013, 07:04:13 PM
sc-bee--here in Lexington SC not too far away from you my bees are putting up something, I saw cells being filled. Also saw bees working Lespedeza and Rag weed for the last week or so. Not sure what they get from each of these but the ones on Rag Weed were packing in the pollen. I see golden rod blooming but a local beek said bees dont work it that much. I do know in SC just a few miles makes a big difference in plants. I'm still new at this so dont hold me to much of this LOL.
dan
Dan, what kind of Lespedeza do you find them working?
today we loaded 400 heading for peppers in Florida and the bee's were still bringing in tons of white pollen
Dan, what kind of Lespedeza do you find them working?
Here in the south its Sericea Lespedeza or Lespedeza cuneata, another one of those introduced invasive plants. After learning to identify wildflowers in my area I found out that lots of the wildflowers we have are not native.
dan