Heather dissapoints

[pargyle]

Somerford had a bumper crop I understand so at least one in the south did ok.

I don't bother with the heather .. for every good year there's at least one bad one,.. it's a pain for hobbyists to process and by the time you've faffed about getting your colonies big enough to make it work and moving the colonies to the heather it's hardly worth the effort. Reports from the usual New Forest heather sites down here are very mixed this year ...

 

[Beefriendly]

As a serious hobbyist I love heather honey. It gets me out onto the moors which are glorious places to be in August. Saw an albino grouse this year. The unique smell of heather honey from the hives as you open them is still magical (its one of the few monofloral honeys that smells the same as the flowers it comes from). It's bottled summer from the North Yorks moors.
With the right equipment extraction is a doddle. And it fetches top dollar....mine sells out every year at £10/lb....what is there to dislike... I can't get enough of the stuff...

 

[For want of a better word]

as a serious hobbyist i love heather honey. It gets me out onto the moors which are glorious places to be in august. Saw an albino grouse this year. The unique smell of heather honey from the hives as you open them is still magical (its one of the few monofloral honeys that smells the same as the flowers it comes from). It's bottled summer from the north yorks moors.
With the right equipment extraction is a doddle. And it fetches top dollar....mine sells out every year at £10/lb....what is there to dislike... I can't get enough of the stuff...:d

we get a lot more than that for our cornish black bee multifloral.... Best honey on the planet!!

 

[ericbeaumont]

I was wandering over Witley common this morning Eric, they are grubbing up areas of bracken to let the adjacent heather spread.
It got me thinking for next year if I can find a site very close.

Close as you can, Neil.

I went to a pub that way and spoke to a few farmers a couple of years ago; helpful, but most farmed further west, up near Hindhead, where the heather is apparently poor. A farmer nearby (son kept bees) ploughed up to his field edges and couldn't help. Somehow ended up knocking on the door of an old lady in the village. The omens were good: she had a Massey-Ferguson 35 in the drive. After a back-garden chat about this and that, she said: I suppose you'd like to put bees in my field?. It's 100 yards from the heather; had a spring bonus of 30lbs/colony of OSR.

 

[pargyle]

As a serious hobbyist I love heather honey. It gets me out onto the moors which are glorious places to be in August. Saw an albino grouse this year. The unique smell of heather honey from the hives as you open them is still magical (its one of the few monofloral honeys that smells the same as the flowers it comes from). It's bottled summer from the North Yorks moors.
With the right equipment extraction is a doddle. And it fetches top dollar....mine sells out every year at £10/lb....what is there to dislike... I can't get enough of the stuff...

I can't think of anything much better than walking the North Yorks moors in August, I spent a few summers as a youth at Ugthorpe .. just inland from Whitby .. spent many happy hours on the moors and along the coast.

The heather down here within reach (25 miles away) is just the New Forest and frankly it's a bit hit and miss ...

I might think differently if I had the Yorkshire Moors to hand ...

 

[SDM]

we get a lot more than that for our cornish black bee multifloral.... Best honey on the planet!!

What do you get for you Cornish NZ Italian bee multifloral ?

 

[Beefriendly]

we get a lot more than that for our cornish black bee multifloral.... Best honey on the planet!!

I'm sure if I said the sun will rise today....it wouldn't in Cornwall.

 

[For want of a better word]

What do you get for you Cornish NZ Italian bee multifloral ?

Not a lot of honey from the few remaining colonies of NZ I have in Cornwall... either requeened with Cornish Amm or hammered so much to make up nucs that there wern't enough bees to provide a crop. The few kilos produced ( Mostly OSR) went to a lady who makes flavoured cordials, over on the other side of the Tamar in Devon, England!


The sun is shining brightly here today... and looks to be settled for the Callington ( Kellywick) Honey Fair this Wednesday next (October 2nd)... 1st Wednesday in October since some king bloke gave Callington a charter... seems the greatgreygreenslimeytamarvalleyallsetaboutwithtwohiveowners....has been a honeypot for centuries... the Cornish native bees thrive here!!!

Chons da

 

[mbc]

As a serious hobbyist I love heather honey. It gets me out onto the moors which are glorious places to be in August. Saw an albino grouse this year. The unique smell of heather honey from the hives as you open them is still magical (its one of the few monofloral honeys that smells the same as the flowers it comes from). It's bottled summer from the North Yorks moors.
With the right equipment extraction is a doddle. And it fetches top dollar....mine sells out every year at £10/lb....what is there to dislike... I can't get enough of the stuff...

I love heather honey too, despite being an unproductive sap on my time and energy this year I still enjoyed parts, lovely walk to the tops with my wife, stopping for tea several times with an old friend and of course a few buckets of the gorgeous stuff. Got to start weighing up the cost in fuel this day and age though.

 

[Madge]

... With the right equipment extraction is a doddle. ...

This year was my first year of collecting and extracting heather honey. Using the association’s economy honey press from Thornes wasn’t a doddle. What do you use?

 

[Beefriendly]

Hydropress....
I found the fruit type presses trapped too much honey in the cake so had to recrumble and re_press.

 

[pargyle]

Hydropress....
I found the fruit type presses trapped too much honey in the cake so had to recrumble and re_press.

So .. for the small time hobbyist extracting heather honey is difficult ?

"With the right equipment extraction is a doddle. "

The cheapest hydraulic press (suitable for honey - ie: stainless) I can find is £325.00

https://www.vigopresses.co.uk/Catalogue/Fruit-Presses/Hydraulic-Fruit-and-Honey-Basket-Press-91300

No small investment and another (fair size) bit of kit that needs storage for one use per year ...

It may be a doddle with a hydro press but unless you are taking a fairly reasonable crop from the heather I still maintain that it's not really viable for the small time hobbyist except as an esoteric exercise.

How many hives would you take to the heather to make it worthwhile ?

 

[Beefriendly]

Let's see now... 1 x 30lb super at £10/lb
2 supers and you have one and your diesel paid for.
Very suitable for a small scale beekeeper I would have said. As that is an average yield of Heather honey form one hive.
Versatile bit of kit...use for pressing capping dry during summer, apples after Heather honey....the list is endless.

Oh and B/TW that's is not a hydropress you have linked to. It's a hydrolic press. A 20 litre hydropress is around 270.

 

[pargyle]

Let's see now... 1 x 30lb super at £10/lb
2 supers and you have one and your diesel paid for.
Very suitable for a small scale beekeeper I would have said. As that is an average yield of Heather honey form one hive.
Versatile bit of kit...use for pressing capping dry during summer, apples after Heather honey....the list is endless.

Oh and B/TW that's is not a hydropress you have linked to. It's a hydrolic press.

Can you point me towards the 'hydropress' you are recommending as the kit required then please ? Presumably even more expensive ?

Or is it one like this ?

https://www.pressfruit.co.uk/product/water-press-hydropress-tilt-frame-80-120-160-litre/

a snip at somewhere over £1000 ???

 

[Beefriendly]

As I posted above a 20 litre hydropress is £270...55quid cheaper than a hydraulic.
I can't give you a link as on mobile.
But even you should be able to Google hydropress and find the Vigo footgrade ones used by commercial fruit growers for pressing out acidic fruit juices. They are a bright orange with stainless barrel

REALLY pargyle are you getting and selling so little honey that 300 squid is a big deal? One super of heather honey is all one costs...

 

[pargyle]

As I posted above a 20 litre hydropress is £270...55quid cheaper than a hydraulic.
I can't give you a link as on mobile.
But even you should be able to Google hydropress and find the Vigo footgrade ones used by commercial fruit growers for pressing out acidic fruit juices. They are a bright orange with stainless barrel

REALLY pargyle are you getting and selling so little honey that 300 squid is a big deal? One super of heather honey is all one costs...

There is no need for belittliing comments .. I am merely trying to make sense of your comment that heather honey extraction is a doddle ... You really need to moderate your tone at times.

The Vigo 18 litre press is £695 ? + delivery ? Still a major investment ..

https://www.vigopresses.co.uk/Catal...ess-Hydropress-Stainless-Steel-20-litre-89153

Or this one .. bright orange with a stainless barrel ... Ooops... that one is £1000 ???

https://www.vigopresses.co.uk/Catalogue/Fruit-Presses/Hydropress-90-litre-91320

You need to sharpen your google skills up to my level I think ...

 

[Beefriendly]

There is no need for belittliing comments .. I am merely trying to make sense of your comment that heather honey extraction is a doddle ... You really need to moderate your tone at times.

It is a doddle with a hydropress,but you seem to making hard work of it.

 

[Erichalfbee]

It is a doddle with a hydropress,but you seem to making hard work of it.

The sensible and gentlemanly thing to have done when you spotted that pargyle’s link was to the wrong piece of kit was to simply post a correct one?

 

[pargyle]

It is a doddle with a hydropress,but you seem to making hard work of it.

It may be a 'doddle' but the fact remains ..and the point I was making - which you seem to be skirting around ... is that the investment required for a hydropress, storing the thing .. added to the buggeration factor of getting a small number of hives to the heather .. and the unreliability of getting a good heather crop ... does not incentivise me to do it ... and frankly, how many hives would you need to take to the heather to make it worthwhile.

Heather honey in my area only sells for a small premium above floral honeys ... I get £4.50/12oz for my honey .. heather honey around here only sells for £5.25/12oz ... nowhere near the £10 a pound you are quoting .. and that's GROSS selling price .. take off the jar, labels, processing time ...

QED

 

[pargyle]

The sensible and gentlemanly thing to have done when you spotted that pargyle’s link was to the wrong piece of kit was to simply post a correct one?

That's because the link to the 'right' one he's quoting is a press costing £1000 !!!