A heather moor video

[B+.]

They still using them there B+ ?

I believe so.
The last time I was there, he still had splt top bars in the supers I saw stacked up. That was summer 2016

 

[Michael Palmer]

They still using them there B+ ?

I still use them when installing foundation for cut comb honey. Works great when combined with a homemade jig.

 

[For want of a better word]

One of the potential problems of communal or association sites. I avoid them like the plague.

and EXTRACTION FACILITIES!!!

But Bio Security means nothing to some keepers of bees it seems.

Yeghes da

Was he feeding those bees invert while they were on the heather?

 

[Poly Hive]

Quite likely as as he said they had been stripped of the summer crop and so would be vulnerable to starvation.

PH

 

[For want of a better word]

Quite likely as as he said they had been stripped of the summer crop and so would be vulnerable to starvation.

PH

***Can you expand on that PH?

The bees would use invert straight away and not store it in the comb.... unlike cane sugar granulated syrup that they would??


*** for beginners and dimwits like me!!

Yeghes da

 

[Poly Hive]

As they sell invert I surmise that is what they would use as an emergency feed.

PH

 

[Into the lions den]

The bees would use invert straight away and not store it in the comb.... unlike cane sugar granulated syrup that they would??

Yeah right. LOL. They take the invert syrup down FAST and of course they store it in the combs.

Also....unless you are buying Tate and Lyle sugar you are most probably feeding beet rather than cane sugar. Most brands available are beet. The differences in the older bees texts and still spouted by some traditionalists are mythical.

Ambrosia/ApiInvert/InvertBee.....all made largely from beet.

Remember...one of the early tactics of the Ambrosia vendors...and I KNOW as I was the Ambrosia vendor before Struan (for only a short while though) ...coached by the Danes who are the next step back up the chain...is that you can feed as much as you like because 'it is not detectable in honey' and 'not illegal'.

The truth on these two counts is 'yes it is' and 'no its not, but a grey/black area if used to produce white 'honey'.

You have to bear in mind that the amounts of these products fed in certain areas are, by our standards, quite phenomenal. Its not hard to get double the UK average if you shove 70Kg of invert down their necks per season.

70...80...and even 100 Kg per colony per annum....were figures given to me by the actual beekeepers when meeting them. (Not all said figures so large.)

Makes our 14Kg, or 21 if they need a spring top up, or 28 in emergencies in most cases seem miniscule. Not additional btw.......14 Kg winter feed for all, then if needed 7Kg in spring and again if desperate 7Kg in June so MAX 28kg.

Also in Denmark I saw that one major outfit had fondant on throughout the heather season, from the moment they took the bees onto the moors. They said...probably correct...it prevented starvation and kept the queens laying in dearths. Less stored that way but probably still a little. (Fwiw it is fed inside a hivetop feeder with the barrier removed rather than directly on the topbars as is the normal in the colder parts of the year. Above a feedhole seems to be a UK peculiarity.)

Feeding before and at the heather is a serious subject and probably merits a whole thread of its own rather than be a sideline in one about a decent little film.

 

[For want of a better word]

Thanks ILTD.
Appols about mentioning Cane sugar... at my age I am embroiled in the traditionalist mythical beekeeping thing.... should have said Tate&Lyles best granulated white sugar!!

Yes agree was a sideline about a decent little film... must have watched it two dozen times or more!

Question is... if invert is fed to the bees... do they use it as food straight away, or store it?
My guess was that the heather supers were put on immediately the heather flow started and any feeding stopped, so that any feed was not put in the supers.
Must require a high level of vigilance and husbandry skills from the beekeeper.

Not much bell or ling around Kit Hill... a little coming back due to good management there by Cornwall Council.... once, well before my day beekeepers would move hives onto the steep slopes of Kit Hill for the heather, and I have been shown granite blocks purportedly once used to stand the hives on!

White honey.... what is that honey flavored sugar water?

Yeghes da

 

[Poly Hive]

It can safely be said that Nigel knows his stuff.

Any thoughts ITLD on the pollination of heather that the gamekeeper mentioned?

PH

 

[For want of a better word]

It can safely be said that Nigel knows his stuff.

Any thoughts ITLD on the pollination of heather that the gamekeeper mentioned?

PH

A simplistic view perhaps... but a landscape managed for grouse, with controlled burns to fertilise the soil and produce new heather growth must be good for the honeybees?
Not much in the way of grouse down here... a few pheasants and the odd partridge!

Wild deer in profusion!!

Yeghes da

 

[Into the lions den]

It can safely be said that Nigel knows his stuff.

Any thoughts ITLD on the pollination of heather that the gamekeeper mentioned?

PH

LOL Pete....neat move...you know my views already.

However, the pollination of heather, and thus an increase in the abundance of the heather berries (they still call them berries even though miniscule and hard as hell), is an increasing theme among the newer generations of gamekeepers. Good feeding for red grouse when the going is tough in winter.

One Aberdeenshire estate even makes special provision for us to have access to bits of moor they feel are 'getting a bit scabby' (a technical term for sure!) as the bees help the health of the place and the heather recovers quicker.

Is it true or just a perception? I don't know but being the beneficiary I am not likely to argue.

The difference between managed and unmanaged moors has been done to death already. We do NOT find the traditional view to hold any water and old forest places do just as well as regularly burned areas. The film was. of necessity, giving generalisations, as the interval between burnings is strongly influences by altitude. Some of our higher areas its about once every 30 or 40 years.

FWIW our top site this year is a forest site where we took 2050 Kg of heather, and has not seen heather burning in my memory, but the second best is a managed one at 1940 Kg, although the latter had more hives. Third on the list at 1920Kg is the set on the 'scabby' bit of hill the asked us to go to. Proves nothing except that you can get a crop on most heather if things go your way.

Microclimate, plus colony strength and condition are more important than how the heather is managed.

 

[Poly Hive]

Many thanks Murray.

Extracting finished?

PH

 

[For want of a better word]

Many thanks Murray.

Extracting finished?

PH

Getting heather honey south of Watford does deem a bit like pulling teeth!

Mytten da

 

[Beefriendly]

Getting heather honey south of Watford does deem a bit like pulling teeth!

Mytten da

I do believe HM gets several tons of heather honey per year and he lives a long way south of Watford.

 

[Into the lions den]

Many thanks Murray.

Extracting finished?

PH

No. 51 pallets of boxes still to go. Pushing up on 150 barrels now. Will finish at around 190...plus c 5t in combs for cutting. That side of things will be all done and dusted in about 3 weeks, than we have to tackle the massive frame sterilising and rewaxing mountain. Its enough work to keep my core staff busy till March.

 

[Into the lions den]

I do believe HM gets several tons of heather honey per year and he lives a long way south of Watford.

A lot comes from New Forest area too, also the heaths on the south coast such as Studland.

 

[For want of a better word]

I do believe HM gets several tons of heather honey per year and he lives a long way south of Watford.

Pedantic posting again...
South of Watford perhaps is a Londoner expression... meaning ... not anywhere near here!

God.. not only make my words as sweet as honey... but also not misunderstood by pedantic so and sos!!

Yeghes da

 

[Beefriendly]

And not forgetting Thursley common, just south of London.

 

[Into the lions den]

And not forgetting Thursley common, just south of London.

That's VERY nice! Just about my favourite type of spot. AND a nice Bell/Ling mix.

Edit....

Just a look at that part on Google Earth....its just like some of the heather areas in Denmark, and surprisingly large for an area I had not heard of. Good for a LOT of bees.