>>We have some areas of NYS where the Goldenrod flow is the only flow 
with a surplus... I would love to hear from them what has and has
not been successful.

I am on Long Island (south-eastern NYS) whose soils are on the sandy 
side and not known for great goldenrod expanses.  Our goldenrod is 
very dependent on good rain fall, especially in August, lest 
goldenrod turn brown.  I, along with another beekeeper I am friends 
with, keep the hives in the overwintering locations for the May-June-
July flow.  Most years this is the primary flow.

After extracting the early honey, we move the hives to the goldenrod 
location around mid August.  The hives come back home before the end 
of October for the 2nd and final extracting.

We don't have the very tall, prolific goldenrod varieties that you 
find in upstate NYS or Vermont that have better suited soils and, if 
the rains are not good, there is only a goldenrod trickle followed by 
a more reliable flow from asters.  Both make a nice honey [in my 
opinion]...

I only treat with OA in the broodless period (Nov. - Jan.).  I raise 
my own queens from my best colonies.  At this point, I have not had 
the need to use, say, formic acid in early August.  I agree with Bob 
Harrison that bees should be exposed to varroa pressure, and all that 
comes along with it, for a more meaningful selection of queen stock.

The bees are raising a lot of brood throughout the whole season 
except for a brief slow-down bet. mid-July and mid-August.  There is 
certainly a lot of opportunity for varroa to expand their numbers.  
With the OA, the varroa numbers in the spring are very small and I 
don't see any mites in drone cells until late August.
  
I raise my own queens and re-queen typically in September.  With 
young queens and good pollen from the fall flowers, the colonies keep 
worker numbers strong.  By the end of October I will see many mites 
on the adult bees but the bee numbers are strong.  The OA knocks down 
the mites very effectively - mite carcasses lie in neat rows, under 
the cluster, on the styrofoam sheets I insulate my screen bottom 
boards with for the winter.

I will stick with this system as it has worked for me well.  If 
things were to become much worse, I'd probably consider adding a 
formic acid treatment in early August.  I saw earlier varroa 
influence with purchased Italian and NWC queens but at that time I 
did not use OA.  I like to think that the bee genetics I collect 
locally and propagate is a factor, too. 

Waldemar
Long Island, NY

******************************************************
* Full guidelines for BEE-L posting are at:          *
* http://www.honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm  *
******************************************************