VTBeeHannah · Vermont, US · Honey · Aug 14, 2026

Goldenrod is blooming 2 weeks early in Vermont — flow reports? Plus a smell warning for the other new folks

Second year in Vermont and the goldenrod along my back field opened this week — my notes from last year say August 28th, so we're a solid two weeks early. The bees found it immediately, hives smell different within days, which brings me to the PSA my mentor gave me last fall and I'm now passing on: New beekeepers — when your apiary starts smelling like a locker room / dirty gym socks in late August, that's GOLDENROD CURING, not a disease. Apparently every fall the club gets panicked calls about foulbrood from people whose hives just smell like goldenrod. The finished honey tastes way better than the curing smell suggests, and the fall flow is a big part of how colonies here pack out winter stores. Anyone else seeing it early this year? And do the veterans super up for goldenrod or just let the bees backfill the brood boxes for winter?

#goldenrod#fall-flow#flow-report#beginners

▲ 9 votes 💬 4 replies

4 replies

BethsBees · Aug 14, 2026

Ontario checking in — same here, my hedgerow patch opened about 10 days ahead of last year. The sock smell PSA is real, I texted my mentor in a mild panic last September about a "sour gym bag" smell. She still teases me about it.

GeorgiaWes · Aug 14, 2026

On the super question: depends entirely on your winter setup. I want my colonies going into winter HEAVY, so goldenrod and aster go straight into the brood nest area — I only super if they're genuinely out of room. A light super of goldenrod that they can't finish curing is a liability, not a crop. Let them backfill first, take surplus only if it's truly surplus.

mn_newbee · Aug 14, 2026

Minnesota first-year here and thank you for this, I literally smelled it yesterday and had the foulbrood page open in another tab. Closing it now.

VTBeeHannah · Aug 15, 2026

mn_newbee glad the timing worked out, that tab has scared a lot of us! And noted on backfill-first — my winters are basically yours, so the supers stay in the shed unless the brood boxes fill up.

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