Heather starting to flower.

[protheroe]

Just got back from two heather sites and not a drop of nectar going in even though it's in bloom.no stores in some hives so shared out a few honey frames in the hope that a flow starts soon.

 

[REDWOOD]

Heather has just started flowering here but not in full bloom yet

 

[protheroe]

It's running late compared to last year by nearly a week so far but then we had much better weather.this July has been awful.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

The Drysgol looks depressingly dark and colorless from here - just the odd hint of purple around pen taircarn

 

[protheroe]

I'm up on the right hand side of the mountain and there's a lot in bloom.

 

[Swinton apiaries]

The moor I go shooting on is in full bloom and has been for a week now but the moor my bees are on is just starting to flower and the moor on the other side of the vally is been in bloom for over 2 weeks it's all to down to hight above sea level round here it seams

 

[Thymallus]

Not only height, but shelter as well. My site is at the top of a valley, the sheltered lea side is in full bloom, whereas the more exposed heather on the tops is just coming out. Hopefully this should see an extended "flow", although I tend to find it all comes in over a 2 week period with dribs and drabs before and after that.
I'm told that once, approx every 25 years, there is a superb extended heather flow. Anyone ever experienced this? Or is this just one of the many myths that abound? As I haven't been taking bees to heather for 25 years I know I've never experienced one.

 

[Into the lions den]

ITLD, sorry but no acres of waterlillies in Worcestershire for you. How about Himalayan Balsam? Ogmore valley has acres, I've heard and readers may know of large areas nearer you in the Grampians? Temperature in Rothiemurchus over next 10 days stuck in the range of 15-17C, I see on the BBC. Yes risk mitigation opportunities must be quite limited in a given locality and constrained by cost of moving far enough to get better weather. Mid Wales is at last seeing forecasts of temperatures in high teens to low 20s, hope for some flow starting. Only 450 miles south of your heather sites! I'll keep fingers crossed for a better outlook in Scotland.

lol...the Rothiemurchus bees come all the way from Cirencester, Hereford, and Ledbury. So distance no object.

We do have a lot of Balsam at a number of our lowland sites but it can be pretty fickle, and thus far we have seen maybe 6 bees in total coming in dusted.

We do not move the nucs to the heather, and instead places them beside Balsam. However still having to feed, even out later today to do that yet again.

Heather on certain locations started to yield, but was up north of Dalwhinnie and to Rothiemurchus yesterday. The ling, bar the odd inconsequential early spike, is still not in flower and will need several good days to have enough to get going on. In that zone (we keep three distinct areas to risk spread) even the bees that have been on bell heather for almost a month have nothing, and it was like Siberia yesterday. Cool air (not cold) but strong winds and rain blowing through on it. Way too blustery for the bees, and there was no bee flight most places.

 

[Into the lions den]

Not only height, but shelter as well. My site is at the top of a valley, the sheltered lea side is in full bloom, whereas the more exposed heather on the tops is just coming out. Hopefully this should see an extended "flow", although I tend to find it all comes in over a 2 week period with dribs and drabs before and after that.
I'm told that once, approx every 25 years, there is a superb extended heather flow. Anyone ever experienced this? Or is this just one of the many myths that abound? As I haven't been taking bees to heather for 25 years I know I've never experienced one.

Its not a myth, but it is tempered strongly by the other old saying 'the heather eats bees'. If you want an extended flow then you need them to be producing a lot of brood in the lead in to the heather. The old idea of cramping gives a reduced chance of success as, once those bees are worked out, there will be less bees to follow on.

Flying life of bees on the heather is very short compared to lowland life.

 

[Thymallus]

When was the last extended flow in your region? Are we due one soon

I only take my strongest hives to the heather as I've found anything less than 9 brood frames/National just doesn't produce a lot of surplus honey, for me at least. Have to artificially strengthen sometimes. Even then some don't do as well as others. Which, as you say, may well be related to the number of foragers available.

 

[Michael Palmer]

Flying life of bees on the heather is very short compared to lowland life.

Any idea what that would be?

 

[Into the lions den]

When was the last extended flow in your region? Are we due one soon

Anyone's guess. You can get two in a row and then not see another for 15 years. No way to tell till it happens.

 

[Into the lions den]

Any idea what that would be?

On the heather moors the climate is relatively harsh, sharp sudden winds are common, temperature drops and squalls come more often. You can see the tattered wings very easily. The plants also harbour lots of bee eating predators, especially spiders in their countless thousands. They tent the heather in webs that you can only see easily in morning dews. As these are non agricultural areas there is more wildlife about, and thus insectivorous birds are also relatively abundant.

Old lore, not sure how accurate, as weather and lots of other things vary, but as a kid I was taught that the foraging life of a worker bee on the heather was about a week, but more like three weeks in lowland non heather places.

Once you get into the second half of August and brood hatching drops away you can see the hive strength go down rapidly, and by early September you are basically down to your early winter cluster size. Young queens and/or poly hives carry their strength through a bit longer due to increased late brood rearing. Might seem counter intuitive, but after a good flow on the heather and the old bees are worked out and gone, you generally get a pretty good wintering, and if there is no heather flow the colonies go into winter stronger but winter losses are higher, sometimes vastly higher.

 

[TryingToLetThemBee]

I have a flow on again (heavy traffic at 6am) despite continuing arid conditions. My bees have access to a small area of lowland scrub that has some heather on it (20 acres of heather??) and the heather has bees on it. Putting two and two together, the heather seems to be flowing here. I do not know the first thing about heather (eg bell v ling) but the flowers are very small and based on Google images it looks like ling...

ADD OH G%D LET IT NOT BE IVY!!! : -/ ENDADD

 

[biglongdarren]

Heather starting to get brought in here on the mournes.

Darren

 

[Chrisfnvs]

It is colouring up nicely here in the New Forest as well, but the local beekeepers are still forecasting a bad crop, we will have to wait and see if they are right about that !

 

[protheroe]

Nothing going on yet.went and fed all the hives with two litres of syrup to keep them alive.

 

[Chrisfnvs]

Just popped in to have a look at the Heather on the way to a New Forest Show wash up meeting tonight, and there were lots of bees working the Ling and the last of the Bell, the Ling is not 100% out yet but there is enough for the bees to work, with rain forecast for the next two days who knows maybe a crop after all !! only time will tell.

 

[preyingmantos]

Just come back from North Derbyshire. Just starting to see flowering now, at least a week late. Colonies in place for the last week haven't collected anything but small patches of balsam.

Ling looks in poor shape.

 

[Thymallus]

Western edges of the North Yorks moors are currently yielding well. Lovely deep purples all around.
1/2-3/4 filled supers on all hives. Smells divine. Must get some more hives up there as there is very little flow off the moors.

Heather not quite as advanced on the higher Northern fringes (I was there yesterday).