>I am a hobbiest beekeeper with two hives and while working with one of my
>hives I noticed a strange smell in the hive. It has a sour smell...
 
Hey there! I'm a hobbyist beekeeper also, about four years or so into it.
That smell can be one of two things: Is it autumn where you are? Is there
alot of Goldenrod growing nearby? This really sounds like the aroma of
Goldenrod honey. The stuff smells awful, until you realize that your girls
are gathering nectar for the winter. Then it smells great!
Alternate possibility: Check the brood. If you see cappings scratched off,
discolored cappings or a dry scale forming in cells in the brood area, you
may have one of the foulbrood diseases. Stick a toothpick into the uncapped
cells and try to pull the pupae out. If it is goopy and stringy (and smells
bad), you have foulbrood. Medicate NOW! Get a copy of the latest edition of
dadent's "The Hive And The Honeybee" (if you do not already have it) and
read up on diseases. It's a great book to have.
I'm sure, however, this is Goldenrod you smell.
 
Say "Hi!" to the girls from us here in Pennsylvania.
-Dan Z. Johnson
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dan z