Trying to make the most of the goldenrod

Today was hot, especially for the time of year! However, the new ventilation in the horizontal hive seemed to be working well. I opened the hives today because I realized the weather forecast for the rest of the week is not very good, especially for the field day. So, I wanted to see how well the bees were doing with making honey for winter and assess their overall health so we can discuss that at the field day. The little swarm hive is still not really doing a whole lot. There was good traffic going in and out and the top box looked and smelled like goldenrod honey, but I didn't lift it, so I am not sure how full it was. I did add a super of drawn comb to give them a boost to store directly without having to make comb. I kind of doubt they will fill it, but at least it is there if they are able to use it. The horizontal hive hadn't built more comb, but it had lots of traffic and looked like it was packing honey into the front section of the hive. I am sure it isn't pretty in there, but it will probably get them through the winter. The vertical hive had not done much with the top empty super. So, I took a super of drawn comb and put it under the empty super so it is closer to the brood box. Hopefully they will be able to use the drawn comb to their best advantage during the goldenrod flow.

So, the take home for everyone else is this: If you have any empty drawn comb available, put it on the hives now while the goldenrod is blooming so they can make the most of the flow and not have to try to make comb. My hope is that they will be able to make enough honey for themselves for winter so I can extract the super and a half of honey I have saved back in the garage and I won't have to put it back on the hives.