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It seems around our area the golden rod started several weeks earlier than usual. Guess this means it will quit earlier? Anyone else seeing this? Could be a year for a lot of feed. Thoughts?

i checked my hives yesterday. i have dark brown nectar which i think is from my buckwheat which is blooming and bright almost yellow nectar. I had to add supers to three of my hives they had the boxes all full of nectar.

I did some bush hogging today and saw many different types of wildflowers blooming. The only one I can name is wild lespedeza, which is just beginning to open. Looks like there are plenty of blooms, but I haven't looked at the hives to see if anything is coming in.

Hi there,

I live across the street from Buffalo Creek near Lake Daniel, and I see golden rod just beginning to bloom, and I also see more wild grape vines blooming and the bees have been bringing home a fair amount of pollen. My husband plays tennis will Olaf Ruppell, and Olaf says to go ahead and feed them anyway, so I have a top feeder that I've filled up twice in the last two weeks, using about 1:3 sugar to water.

This is my first hive, and I read that the hive bodies should weigh about 75 pounds total as a sign that the colony had enough food stored for the winter and ours didn't seem to weigh nearly that much--so feeding them seems to make sense. My plan is to up the concentration to 1:2 sugar to water in the winter months. Any thoughts about feeding them now? I've also read that the top feeder shouldn't be used in this heat--but I don't see any signs of colony distress because of it.

Your sugar/water ratio is somewhat on the weak side compared to the norm for the industry.

Most use equal amounts of sugar and water, "1:1", in spring and summer, then twice as much sugar as water, "2:1", in fall and winter.

2:1 will need to be heated to dissolve.

Have some hives near an area that is an old landfill now covered with lespedzea. Some are honey bound now! First fall honey bound situation I have ever had.

My hives are in the Air Harbor area and we have several fields full of goldenrod. The bees have been bringing in pollen heavy for about 2 to 3 weeks. The nectar has been coming in more slowly. I have decided to go ahead and put on top feeders.