Does anyone keep native black honey bees?

[Cussword]

It would also be useful to cease belittling the efforts of others.

Seems to be the nature of some of the beasts that post on here.

 

[Hivemaker.]

We have snow!

Same here, live on the side of a hill that is 520m above sea level, white up there and several degrees colder.

 

[Poly Hive]

Snowed here last night starting about 5-30pm. Now about 2" on the lawn and an inch on the road but currently thawing.

Problem is we drive down to get out the village and of course up to return... and as we are a very minor road there is no ploughing or more to the point any gritting.

PH

 

[B+.]

Now about 2" on the lawn and an inch on the road but currently thawing.

It comes to something when an inch of snow is considered impassable. I remember in the 80's driving up steep hills with snow over 2 feet deep. Now, that was scary! ;-)

 

[Stiffy]

We very rarely get snow, if we had 2 inches it would apocalyptic and the county would come to a halt .
S

 

[linoleum bonypart]

Living up there a good case for winter tyres ph
I remember driving up a tunnel of snow guess that was a two or three times a century event

 

[linoleum bonypart]

Never hear mention of hybrid vigour in these bee chats??

 

[Poly Hive]

Oh an inch of snow is far from impassible but when that snow partly melts and then freezes... now that is quite another matter. And no gritting.....

PH

 

[Carsten]

Carsten Dalbol in Denmark has most of the old lines.

buckfast.biz

Naa, he has them all....

 

[mazzamazda]

There is a guy in Devon who has some of Brother Adam's apiaries, Phil Chandler. He runs "friends of the bees" ------------ and is looking to preserve some native bees.

 

[Finman]

Not really when you consider there are commercial Beekeepers today who's harvest is almost entirely from heather.

Yields must be poor, if bees work only 3 weeks during a year.

And many harvest nothing. They only love bees.

.

 

[SDM]

Yields must be poor, if bees work only 3 weeks during a year.

And many harvest nothing. They only love bees.

.

You seem to do ok on a season that isn't a great deal longer.
Hive maker has had 2 supers in under 10 days from most hives on heather. 3 weeks.of that would be about 4 times the UK averages I keep seeing you quote.

 

[MartinL]

Yields must be poor, if bees work only 3 weeks during a year.

.

You obviously haven't seen what it sells for!

 

[Finman]

You obviously haven't seen what it sells for!

Obviously I do here what I have my resources and my experiences.

I had rape fields which bloomed the whole July. Raspberry was good. The hive got from there 100 kg. When rape stopped, I moved hive to fireweed. Now August has been good, and bees have carried full loads 3 weeks. I do not know how much they have foraged
.
Now blooming seems to be over, 3 weeks after normal.

The yield must be closer to 200 kg than 150 kg. What idea is to keep a hive on the empty field when another place is full of flowers.

So, what honor is to take the yield from one plant....

Last year rape yield was zero.
.

 

[Finman]

.
I had hives in same place too, if pasture are good and they give nectar whole summer. I do not drive with them "around", like B says. I consider and evaluate the pasture before I move.

I made 5 nucs at the beginning of May. Now 3 of those nucs have brought 100 kg. Thanks to late summer and Buckfast queens, which did not try to swarm.

 

[Finman]

You seem to do ok on a season that isn't a great deal longer.
Hive maker has had 2 supers in under 10 days from most hives on heather. 3 weeks.of that would be about 4 times the UK averages I keep seeing you quote.

And Hivermaker is satisfied with those 2 honey boxes? Surely not if your yield season is 6 months.
.

I have here heather more than you can imagine, but during 35 years it has given nothing. It grows on dry cliffs.

 

[Finman]

.
I started migrative beekeeping 1965 with bicycle. Bee race was Non Selected German Black Devils. When I took the transport cage off, then run as fast as you can.

In 1990 I understood the meaning of evaluating pastures and moving "around" hives.

 

[SDM]

And Hivermaker is satisfied with those 2 honey boxes? Surely not if your yield season is 6 months.
.

I have here heather more than you can imagine, but during 35 years it has given nothing. It grows on dry cliffs.

I imagine he's quite pleased with 2 boxes of heather in 10days, especially when you consider things like my local deli selling heather honey at£42/kg or £10.50/8oz.
I'd be more than a little surprised if that 10 days was the only period in 6 mths his hives profited.

Hmm, 75% of the world's heather in the UK but you think you have more than I can imagine.
Think again.

 

[Finman]

I imagine he's quite pleased with 2 boxes of heather in 10days, especially when you consider things like my local deli selling heather honey at£42/kg or £10.50/8oz.
I'd be more than a little surprised if that 10 days was the only period in 6 mths his hives profited.

Hmm, 75% of the world's heather in the UK but you think you have more than I can imagine.
Think again.

Yes, you have imagination. But who heck has calculated that 75%. Look at Russia map and Taiga belt. There are so much heather that no one has interest to calculate it.

In Finland Heather honey has same price as other honeys'

Heather is ground vegetation in pine forests. Look the pine belt of northern Russia

..

 

[MartinL]

In Finland Heather honey has same price as other honeys'
.

You should consider Exporting it to the UK.

Add Premium for region, £60/Kg?
Not sure what the Tax would be after Brexit though.