"Pollinators abound Warm long dry season here,  and more bumbles and
butterflies than you can begin to count. "

Every fall I watch what is working golden rod.  We have had an absolutely miserable fall for golden rod this year.  We have hardly had a single day in six weeks that hit the average daily high temp for this area and so much rain I am still mowing my lawn weekly.  Hot weather plants like squash just started setting fruit a week ago.  That is over a month late.  First note of golden rod odor on my hives was Aug 30 which is five days later than average for the last 40 years.  The next day with detectable GR odor was Sept 10!  As of today my best hives have put on only a few pounds of GR honey.  Maybe five pounds when it should have been pushing 50.  It simply has been too cold for honey bees and for a good GR flow.  But the natives are all over the stuff.  Counts of natives to honey bees only 150 feet from my hives have been running ten natives to one honey bee on days I can smell GR on the hives.  The main natives in order of frequency are bumbles, wasps and yellow jackets.  Also various butterflies and flies.  I sure have seen no drop in natives other than Monarchs in NE Ohio.  This is not just true of golden rod.  I see the same thing on other flowers from about July 1 on.  No idea if there has been a species ratio change in bumbles.  To me a bumble is either a big bumble or a little bumble but that is the end of my discrimination.  There are enough if I wanted to collect 1000 it would not take very long when I can see 20 or 30 on a patch of 50 GR plants.

Dick

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