Off to the Heather

[Hedgerow Honey]

I was in Todmorden yesterday and the heather I could see was going over but ours has a week/ten days I reckon. Average one super per hive which is better than last year, I gave them thin foundation for cut comb I would have got more maybe if I had given drawn comb.

 

[Poly Hive]

Yes but your CC is a higher value crop.

PH

 

[Hedgerow Honey]

Very true, but should I have got in drawn early in the year?, I have not tried it before.

 

[Poly Hive]

You can do but...

There is then the issue of extracting it with the further issue of residues granulating the heather.

I used to hedge my bets by putting 4 CC interspersed between drawn combs. Worked very well. At the time mainly using Langstroth sups with 8 combs.

I used full sheets of foundation, and still do for my CC work.

PH

 

[Hedgerow Honey]

Ok will try a few like that next year, I have fifteen acre of borage next year as well which I will try CC.

 

[Amari]

Hmm.. confirms my thoughts and I personally like to be on the moor for the 2nd to 3d week of July.
PH

Does that mean there will be a lot of bell heather (which flowers before the ling on the Suffolk heaths) in your crop? I have always wondered if true 'heather honey' is meant to be mainly the thixotropic ling or is it OK if mixed with bell?

 

[Michael Palmer]

Is Bell heather not thixotropic? I wouldn't know.

 

[Beefriendly]

No it's not. Spins out fine and is deep reddish colour.

 

[alfazer]

If a jar of honey is pure ling you should be able to scratch a line across the top surface and it won't close over again for something like 20 minutes I think.
If closes quickly, it means something else is in there like bell, rosebay, fuscia.

 

[Michael Palmer]

And does ling crystallize quickly, in say, comb honey?

 

[Beefriendly]

And does ling crystallize quickly, in say, comb honey?

Ling crystallizes very slowly in comb or jar forming large "crunchy" crystals, which surprisingly some customers seek out....

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Bees here are still working the heather here although most of it is brown with a few patches on the higher grown that is still in full bloom

The Drysgol and the sides of the Black Mountain are still a bright carpet of purple - in fact looks better now than three weeks ago. Even the apiaries three to four miles away are piling the heather in.

 

[preyingmantos]

Going back a few years that was not an uncommon practice............

Still is in some parts...

Know that some feed in excess of 100Kg invert syrup...during the season. Then make great play on their 80-100Kg average. (Not UK...just so that's perfectly clear...but it does go on to some extent even saw feeding going on into hive top feeders above the supers *in the UK* about 3 weeks back.)

How this for a idea Murray. Strip honey, place on 2 undrawn deeps. Light feed then spin out light syrup before move to heather. Hey presto, added crop on heather?

 

[mbc]

And does ling crystallize quickly, in say, comb honey?

If it's pure it won't crystallize at all for a long time year+

 

[Beefriendly]

If it's pure it won't crystallize at all for a long time year+

Not actually true mbc. One of my heather sites yields around 98% pure ling heather honey as assessed by pollen counts (rest is tormentil and thistle) . It still crystallizes if left as liquid or in the comb. Usually after 5-6 months. Perhaps my storage conditions are considerably cooler than yours?....although they certainly will be this year as I'm freezing all my cut comb to prevent this crystallization occurring.

 

[Finman]

.
I saw today on garden centre irish moore heather. The flower is huge. We have only Galluna vulgaris.

 

[Teemore]

Going back a few years that was not an uncommon practice............

Still is in some parts...

Know that some feed in excess of 100Kg invert syrup...during the season. Then make great play on their 80-100Kg average. (Not UK...just so that's perfectly clear...but it does go on to some extent even saw feeding going on into hive top feeders above the supers *in the UK* about 3 weeks back.)

Theres a beekeeper I know of who, due to poor weather, complained about having to feed his bees all Summer a few years back. He too was feeding above supers. I have been advised that he has maintained this practice...

Given the number of shops he has product in, his bees must be "producing" at least 100kg on average! (Note I didn't call the product honey)

Have yet to get any reports on the yield from heather in Northern Ireland.

 

[alfazer]

....

....Have yet to get any reports on the yield from heather in Northern Ireland.

Heard the ling was flowing very well on Glenshane during it's first week around 10th-15th Aug. Certainly just driving over the summit, the sight of the flower was glorious.
My out-apiary a few miles from home is on the edge of the heather, mostly ling but some bell here and there too. I'm a bit further west and lower altitude. The heather is more patchy where I am, but in my limited experience it's a good flow, pretty much every day. Called in today but didnt open them yet. The smell, even 10 feet before I get to them, is wonderful. I had never experienced such a strong aroma before. A lot of foraging traffic and very loud roar from inside too.

I dont think we get much bell up here in the northwest. I hear its more prevalent in the Mournes.

 

[daroco]

A week to go now till I'll be bringing mine back off the moors - how have those with hives on the Yorkshire Dales got on?

 

[Swarm]

Driving over the Rhigos and Bwlch today, some patches of colour here and there but on the whole it's spent.