Off to the Heather

[Ely]

Three of our sons will be doing it as well.

Do you blow them out?

 

[Hivemaker.]

Do you blow them out?

Yes, we use blowers to clear out any stragglers remaining after clearer boards on overnight, smaller lots just get blown out anyway.

 

[JWF]

Yes, we use blowers to clear out any stragglers remaining after clearer boards on overnight, smaller lots just get blown out anyway.

I've seen that done on a busy super rammed with bees - it was er.... spectacular! Certainly not something I'll be doing at my home apiary!

 

[Ely]

It would be very interesting to see how things are done by a commercial beekeeper

 

[AndyTh]

Hi JB, the ling was looking as though flowering would be late this year when I checked the moorland near Blaenavon on 18th July. How's it looking up on the hill by you?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Hi JB, the ling was looking as though flowering would be late this year when I checked the moorland near Blaenavon on 18th July. How's it looking up on the hill by you?

Think/hope it's going to be late this year. The heather looked promising a few weeks ago but I had to go up towards the heather area yesterday to take some supers off the hives at the castle and no signs of it colouring up yet, nor up on the sugarloaf when I was up at the Royal Welsh last week

 

[Swarm]

No colour up at Blaenafon yet.

 

[Beefriendly]

Watch out for the damage caused by Heather beetles.
Apparently last year's summer was ideal for them and they have now spread to Western edges of Nth York moors. Some areas pinking up nicely, some areas brown with flowerless Heather.
As usual with Heather honey always something to go wrong...

 

[Erichalfbee]

Watch out for the damage caused by Heather beetles.
Apparently last year's summer was ideal for them and they have now spread to Western edges of Nth York moors. Some areas pinking up nicely, some areas brown with flowerless Heather.
As usual with Heather honey always something to go wrong...

I'd never heard of it so looked it up
Is it a new thing or has it got worse over the years?


I found this too
It is important to remember that direct action to control beetle outbreaks in progress are rarely successful and can risk causing more harm than good. The Heather Trust has long argued that moorland managers should focus on restoring damage in the aftermath of an outbreak, and we have commissioned studies to explore the efficacy of different management techniques at Langholm Moor and in the Derbyshire Peak District. We are always happy to discuss management options with our members, and we offer an advisory service to provide help and guidance for anyone who needs support after an outbreak of heather beetle.

 

[Beefriendly]

Is it a new thing or has it got worse over the years?

Not new but was most severe on the eastern Nth Yorks moors where there is little shooting and management. However it's now appearing badly on our Western patch for the first time....so management theory is out of window. DOH!
How it will affect honey yields is not clear....yet.
Fortunately I have sole access to two different moors and suspect that even if half was affected there will still be plenty of the pink stuff flowering to go round.......famous last words

 

[maddydog]

Spoke to the gamekeeper about this when I took mine to the moors last week. Can be devastating to large areas and there is no control over it. Apparently the larvae can dodge the burning by dropping off the leaves and obviously insecticide is a no no.
Black grouse eat them and bees help with pollination and therefore seeds so a well managed shooting moor seems to be the way forwards.

 

[Poly Hive]

Spotted today on the northern Northumberland border, a bit of high ground with Ling in flower.

PH

 

[foghornleghorn]

Is there much heather beetle damage around, most of my spots here seem to be affected

 

[Beefriendly]

North Yorks moors are badly affected. Still plenty of pink spots but a worrying number of brown dead areas.
The keepers are blaming the hot weather from last year for it's increase. It's always been prevalent on the Eastern edges where there is no grouse shooting, but this is the worst it's been on the western grouse moors.

 

[mbc]

Just got back from taking the last trailer load to the heather (Brecon beacons) and took time out to walk to the top of the mountain with my lovely assistant (my wife came with me) and it was flowering nicely with some clumps giving off scent and being worked by bees, bumbles mostly but some honey bees. Lovely day yet not a hint of a sniff of heather on the hives I'd taken up last week, hopefully if it all gets a good soak overnight and warm weather returns next week then the boxes will fill with the lovely sticky stuff!

 

[Erichalfbee]

Just got back from taking the last trailer load to the heather (Brecon beacons) and took time out to walk to the top of the mountain with my lovely assistant (my wife came with me) and it was flowering nicely with some clumps giving off scent and being worked by bees, bumbles mostly but some honey bees. Lovely day yet not a hint of a sniff of heather on the hives I'd taken up last week, hopefully if it all gets a good soak overnight and warm weather returns next week then the boxes will fill with the lovely sticky stuff!

Sounds good
I'll have to put an order in for a bucket...

 

[Swarm]

The valley tops are looking quite purple, seems to have sprung into life.

 

[AndyTh]

Hi to heather-goers. How has this year's heather yielded ( I noticed Calluna4u was "only" averaging around the 20-25 kg per hive mark in Scotland)!? Was the flowering season later than previous years, and did it flow later too?

 

[foghornleghorn]

3lbs per hive extracted, all only summer honey in the double brood. Pulled 5lb out of the hives that stayed at home

 

[AndyTh]

17lbs per hive extracted from 3 hives, after including taking 2 of the blackest broodcombs from each broodnest (replace with fdn, then feed) as recommended by Into the Lions Den. Pressing these 2 per hive gave an extra 3lbs per hive.