Heather honey harvest!

[peterbees]

Heather honey on my hives at home today, Conwy Valley, north Wales; one mile from the heather on Pen y Gaer.
What a lovely surprise.

 

[Swarm]

Looks gorgeous.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Heather honey on my hives at home today, Conwy Valley, north Wales; one mile from the heather on Pen y Gaer.
What a lovely surprise.

Isn’t it pink!

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Isn’t it pink!

It's more ginger in our area - although not a peep of it in the hives thus far this season

 

[biglongdarren]

Anybody else getting any heather? The hives in the Mournes are but they are really working hard for it all.

 

[Swarm]

Heather was looking vibrant near Brynmawr yesterday, has anyone taken hives to Blaenafon?

 

[Wilco]

Trickling in down here. Bit late but exploring another site too.

 

[Curly green finger's]

Much the same here @biglongdarren they are working really hard but frames are being drawn and filled .

The flow is later this year , and I didn’t need to move the bees up to the stances so early , rather early than late I suppose.

 

[ericbeaumont]

Trickling in down here

Ling flowering looked lovely in West Surrey last week but few bees were on it. Quite a bit must have come in earlier because there's plenty capped and fresh, but it does have the liquid texture of bell. Quite a relief, really, as I put on wired combs by mistake, and there are several with full broods of honey. Aim to extract early next week.

 

[Wilco]

Ling flowering looked lovely in West Surrey last week but few bees were on it. Quite a bit must have come in earlier because there's plenty capped and fresh, but it does have the liquid texture of bell. Quite a relief, really, as I put on wired combs by mistake, and there are several with full broods of honey. Aim to extract early next week.

Flavour of calluna though on the brace comb at the hive at my parents' house though so I'm hopeful. Some hives at Frensham doing a bit.

 

[Erichalfbee]

….

 

[biglongdarren]

There is a flow back on here again in the Mournes , gives a cracker week of weather so this week should do it.

 

[ericbeaumont]

hives at Frensham doing a bit

How did it end, Will? Over at Thursley I took off about 180lbs yesterday, and it turned out to be bell, with a few cells of ling.

Lovely smell of marmalade this year. In the past, it has been darker and almost resinous in the extracting room - quite sickening after a while.

 

[Wilco]

How did it end, Will? Over at Thursley I took off about 180lbs yesterday, and it turned out to be bell, with a few cells of ling.

Lovely smell of marmalade this year. In the past, it has been darker and almost resinous in the extracting room - quite sickening after a while.

Nice. I've not taken them off, busy couple of weeks, but plan to in the next week or so. Sadly they've eaten a bit of it but hopefully I'll get a couple of boxes all in all. Disappointing but far better than last year.

 

[peterbees]

Mine at home (Conwy Valley) have done a bit on the heather. Now, they are busy on the Himalayan Balsam, despite the best efforts of the local balsam bashers.

 

[elainemary]

Extracted heather honey today, using new Spiegel Hydropress purchased for our association. What a great piece of kit. V dry wax at the end of process. So much easier than manual press or loosening and spinning out.
Thanks to one of the Forum members @pete darbyshire for the recommendation last year

 

[Gingerbread]

For those of us that do not have heather honey (and maybe like me, no idea what the pictures are showing), could you explain what is in the pictures, and which part of the process it is.
I'm pretty certain the 2nd picture is not a kebab cooking, but Iay be wrong
Thankyou.

 

[Erichalfbee]

1. A heather honey frame
2. Honey and comb scraped off the frame ( you can’t spin heather off) and in the background a press ( like an Apple press but more sophisticated)
3. A view of the press with a lake of pressed honey round the bottom of it
4. Pressed comb
5. Heather honey from a settling tank being poured into a bucket

 

[Erichalfbee]

Plus a few utility room appliances and copious amounts of newspaper

 

[deemann1]

Nice colour to the heather.
The press looks like it did a good job on squeezing the wax