Heather crop 2009

[BKF Admin]

Once agian I ran out of time so never took any bees to the heather this year,even though my nearest site is under 10 miles away!

I have been getting reports back that the brood boxes of friends that did go are jammed with Heather honey but the supers have hardly been worked.

I was driving through the New forest about a month ago and the Heather looked amazing,just goes to show that the weather really is important for a good crop.

How has it been in other heather venues this year?

 

[Hivemaker.]

In a word, carp,but have known it worse,the most usless bee's i have ever come across for heather work are the caniolans,never again for them,they really only have one use,making up nuc's and adding different queens,they are still bursting with bee's.

 

[Poly Hive]

I used, (shock horror) to strip the BB's of heather. Oddly I got some third to half our crop from there. The math at the time went like this, sugar some 60P a kilo, note kilo, and heather in the jar some £4-75/pound.

Best Heather bees are AMM.


PH

 

[Hivemaker.]

Best heather bee's round here are the buckfast type strains.they have all filled the brood box's solid with honey,the carni's have filled the box's solid with more brood.
Think there may of been lots of AMM round here 100 years ago.