Is a 40 km move to the goldenrod worth the stress this late in the season?
Decision needed by the weekend. A farmer friend 40 km east has field margins thick with goldenrod (nawłoć) just hitting full bloom, and he's offered me space for six hives through September. My home yard is basically done — the buckwheat finished and the bees are loafing.
Fifth year, but I've never done a migratory move. The pull: goldenrod is our last real flow and could top up winter stores properly, maybe even a small late harvest. The push: closing up and strapping hives, a night drive, reorientation at the new site, robbing risk when six confused colonies open up in a new place, then moving them BACK in October when I'd rather they were settling for winter. Two of the six also just finished formic strips.
Those of you who chase flows for a living — is a month on goldenrod worth two moves this close to winter, or is this a case of the maths not surviving contact with the diesel and the faff?
#migratory#goldenrod#fall-flow#moving-hives
▲ 5 votes💬 3 replies
3 replies
muglabalci · Sep 4, 2026
I move hives for a living — pine forests every autumn — so my bias is known. 40 km is nothing. Done properly (close entrances at dusk when all are home, mesh for air, strap tight, drive at night, open at dawn) the colonies barely notice. The real question is colony strength: strong colonies convert a move into honey, weak ones convert it into stress. Take your four strongest, leave the two fresh off formic at home. And goldenrod granulates fast, so anything you extract, extract promptly.
AbejaMiguel · Sep 4, 2026
Agree with muglabalci on selection — never move a colony that is recovering from anything. I would add: visit the site FIRST and look for other beekeepers' hives. A good goldenrod stand in September attracts everyone, and if there are already fifty colonies on it your six join a queue, not a feast. The flow you can see from the road is not always the flow that ends up in the box.
PasiekaOlek · Sep 5, 2026
Both very helpful. Drove out this evening — no other hives visible anywhere near, and the stand is bigger than he described, easily a few hectares of margins and a fallow field solid yellow. Taking the four strongest on Friday night, the two formic colonies stay home with a feeder. If this works it becomes an annual thing and I finally understand why you migratory people put up with the strapping.