I have both Golden rod and sneezing going on up here. lol. It seems like it is a little earlier this year. Am I wrong or is it about the right time of year?
Goldenrod here is just putting out the buds. I expect flowering within the next week. We even had an inch of rain about two days ago, so it should be a good start to fall when it arrives.
At our meeting last Thursday the state guy said he saw some blooming in the back of one of his hayfields. That would be Arab Alabama - Russell county I think. He too thinks the cool weather will be early this year.
It's blooming here too! Waiting for that special smell.
FYI Goldenrod does not cause hayfevor. The pollen does not go airborn. The sneezing is ragweed that blooms at the same time.
What Danno said.
Goldenrod is given a bum deal by people who think their allergies are triggered by it's pollen. As Danno said, the culprit is usually ragweed. Both plants bloom about the same time but ragweed doesn't have showy, colorful blooms and just looks like a dull, boring background plant...nothing to make it really stand out. Goldenrod, on the other hand, is bright and easily spotted.
Goldenrod has a heavy moist pollen grain...unless you walked through a stand of goldenrod intentionally disturbing it and taking deep breaths while doing so you would have a hard time of inhaling the pollen. When goldenrod pollen falls from the flowers it basically heads to the ground being heavy. It is also a "gentle looking" pollen with little to no barbs or stickers to it so if you did inhale it it wouldn't cause too much (if any) misery.
Ragweed has a very light "powdery" pollen grain that easily floats on the slightest breeze and thus travels easily from where it's growing to your front porch. You can literally strike it's plain-jane flowerhead and a puff of pollen will be created. The bad difference is in the pollen structure...unlike goldenrod, ragweed has a spikey, barbed evil-looking pollen grain that will torture your sinuses.
People take it for granted that it's the goldenrod making them suffer so bad...most folks can't even identify ragweed, though. To me, it resembles big (bloomless) okra plants.
Ed
Goldenrod is my primary honey source. I get excited every year when it starts to come out. Is just beginning now. The golden waves over the fields, the wonderful aroma around the hives, the sight of the bees working furiously to gather it before fall. goldenrod season is best.
I think this year I'm going to harvest a frame or two of goldenrod...ya never know till ya try it! :)
Ed
gary, arab is in north alabama.
i decided not to plant grain sorghum in the end of july because i didn't think it would have time to finish before the first frost. i think we're in for another cold winter.
i haven't seen any blooming down this way yet but the bees have been working something the last week or so (could be soybeans but it's a little early for that too). sumac is still budding but not open
Rob, I haven't seen any gr blooming around here either. I think mine are still working the cotton field down the road. There's also a soybean field not far from it either.
I haven't seen any down here yet either. Mine are getting something, don't know what from. They also will work a little on Johnson grass, probably pollen.
Joe
Haven't seen golden rod here in Central Arkansas yet either.
Coming on strong in Central Va. Seems a tad early this year. G :chop:
swamp, i'm hoping to get a surplus this year. i've heard mixed reports about it. worse case, if i uncap the first frame and it tastes like a$$, i'll put it back on and not worry about feeding.
Quote from: 10framer on August 13, 2014, 01:03:51 PM
swamp, I'm hoping to get a surplus this year. I've heard mixed reports about it. worse case, if i uncap the first frame and it tastes like a$$, I'll put it back on and not worry about feeding.
10, Keep in mind if you only test taste one area of honey you might be fooled. It can bee very different in different parts of the hive and even on the same frame. Sometimes one area is emptied and then later refilled with nectar from a different tree at a different time of the year. Sometimes I find honey in frames from a previous year, I always try to leave enough honey on so that I do not need to feed. The question is, what will the blended honey taste like. Hard to tell.
Jim
jim,
last year i forced the bees to backfill with goldenrod and got a brood break and didn't have to feed until late january and even with the long, cold winter only fed about 4 gallons per hive.
the supers i have on have all been extracted and by september should only contain a few kinds of nectar. possibly soy bean, probably sumac and definitely goldenrod. i know sumac by sight so i'll harvest it but if the rest tastes bad i'm not blending it. sumac is by far my favorite honey and i'll extract a single frame if i have to to get some.
It's starting to bloom here to in Ontario, it's early.
I'm hopping for a nice full hive of the Golden Rod honey.
Glen
the sumac flow is on and the goldenrod looks like it's about to start developing buds. the timing seems pretty close to last year if i remember right.
I saw goldenrod here today NE FL, though I never see huge amounts of it around here.
Quote from: 10framer on August 15, 2014, 11:19:45 AM
jim,
last year i forced the bees to backfill with goldenrod and got a brood break and didn't have to feed until late january and even with the long, cold winter only fed about 4 gallons per hive.
the supers i have on have all been extracted and by september should only contain a few kinds of nectar. possibly soy bean, probably sumac and definitely goldenrod. i know sumac by sight so i'll harvest it but if the rest tastes bad i'm not blending it. sumac is by far my favorite honey and i'll extract a single frame if i have to to get some.
10,
You say you know sumac by sight.
Is sumac real clear or real dark? How can you tell the difference with capped honey?
Jim
jim, it's in between. on a scale of privet is real light, poplar is real dark and clover is in the middle. sumac is the closer to clover that poplar but it has a brownish-amber color. all my honey comb is less than 2 years old and hasn't had brood in it. i can tell the color of honey pretty easily with the caps on.
Thanks 10.
I have never had my bees on sumac.
Jim
I've been holding off on the last honey rob until I see if the golden rod is gonna make. I haven't seen any blooming yet. The temps are still in the 90's here making inspections miserable enough without the bees being extra defensive due to a dearth. Hope we see a strong flow for fall. Luck to all.
Just came in to full bloom this last week in central Kentucky. To bad I am in an urban setting with little goldenrod in my girls scavenger radius. Go 5 or 6 miles out of town and fields and fields of yellow.
Haven't seen any goldenrod blooming around here yet either... it's supposed to get to 95 today....just saw a lady from The Farmer's Almanac on the news, they are saying we will have a "supercold winter".
Ok, on 8/21/14 between Luverne and Troy, Alabama on US29 there are some good stands of goldenrod blooming. That's about 50 miles south of Montgomery. West of Luverne I haven't seen any blooming.
Ed
Nothing here yet. Probably another week at least . her in middle Ga.
Ok, just spotted some west of Luverne.
Ed
Just beginning to see goldenrod here.