lol....well I have some odd looking places...........but this one hits in the top 20% for productivity, year on year on year. HUGE Bell site, flow starts rolling in about 10th July or so. Have had *averages* there of over 100lb, and its long term average is about 60lb.
Lovely place to have lunch, but then again, not half a mile away I have another cracker for that, bees placed alonside a track leading up to a mobile phone mast on the very top of a hill, and you just take the Unimog up to the top and you have views of high tops and can see over 60 miles..........
Many visitors are surprised by the places I use, but then the arbitrer of what is a good bee site is the bees, not their keeper. It IS btw, ONLY a heather site, it sits at just over 400 metres above sea level and is useless other than during July to September.
Several of my best heater sites are actually in forest, getting shelter at the hives and then they fly up all the heathery glades on days when open moorland is just too rough for them.
With approximately 60 heather sites we spread our risk, taking on places with a variety of microclimates, some open, some sheltered, some in high rainfall, some in dry locations.......means we get some sort of heather crop EVERY year, whenthose who choose so called classic locations can be struggling. We keep annual spreadsheets, and any location turning up in the bottom 30% three years running gets severe scrutiny, and if there is not other reason than the place itself for the poor performance, then it gets the chop.
I second GBH, idyllic indeed! Granted, ideal bee locations are not necessarily picturesque, but it must be an absolute pleasure going to work when you have surroundings like this. That's not saying it's not hard graft btw, it's just you notice it less when you spend your days in stunning scenery. I envy you
