Goldenrod Blooms On The Bee Farm 2019

 Hello and welcome to West Louisiana Bee Farm's blog. Thank you for stopping by. You never know what bee-related stuff I may put up here. Some of it will be interesting to other beekeepers, but much of it will be info that I may need to save here like a journal of sorts for my reference. Which brings me to the purpose of this first blog post. THE GOLDENROD IS BLOOMING!!

As of this morning, September 22, 2019 the goldenrod is officially in bloom here on the farm. I have been anxiously watching it everyday for weeks now trying to time its arrival, and now it is here! Why is this such a big deal to me? Well, this is the last big chance for the bees to get easy nectar. The goldenrod flow is the official/unofficial name for this season, and it is what the bees use to build their stores back up for the cold months of winter when food is scarce for them and temperatures keep them in the hive so that they can keep the queen warm and fed. 

Why is it considered "easy nectar"? It is because of goldenrod's abundance. In this part of the country it is literally everywhere. It grows along fence rows, vacant lots, highway and dirt road right-of-ways, along creek and river banks, in your flowerbed that you neglected this year, you name it. Goldenrod comes up EVERYWHERE if you let it. Therefore I call it easy nectar. 

So if you have goldenrod growing on your property and you are tempted to cut it down, please leave it for the bees until the blooms die. They need it for their winter stores. Then, when the blooms turn brown, cut it down. They will be grateful.

Well, that's all for now. Here some flowers I picked for my wife while out looking around to see what my bees may be foraging on. There is actually quite a bit of wildflowers in bloom already. 

Stay tuned, more to come later!

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