John Mellis on the Beeb: Honey in 2015

[gavin]

About a quarter of normal harvest for the spring and summer crops, but happy enough with the heather (despite what seem to be feather-light colonies being picked up there!). Have to say the heather crop must have been better in the SW than here. I managed 6 supers from 20 strong colonies in the glens.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-34638897

G.

[mbc]

I managed 6 supers from 20 strong colonies in the glens.
.

I harvested a little over 100lbs from 14 good stocks taken to the heather, disappointing doesn't quite cover it.

[Duncan]

Interesting video and to see that the beekeeper is using Buckfast bees. No doubt this played an important part in his heather harvest which he seems satisfied with. Just another example of how adaptive Buckfast bees are, contrary to the opinion expressed by certain quarters.

[fatshark]

In fairness you'd need to be sure that other strains failed on the same part of the same moors to know of Buckfasts offered any advantages. The heather is very patchy - some areas have been great, others very poor. e.g. "... modest and erratic ..." in a post from a couple of months ago from calluna4u who should know

[John M]

Picking up on a couple of points in this thread, The hives I was lifting were light because I always take off the honey before moving the bees. There were both Buckfast and Scottish mongrels on all of the heather sites and not much difference attributable to the race. There was a huge difference though due to the strength of the colony.
Because I had been out of commission for six weeks prior to the heather moves it was not possible to be selective about what was taken, easier to lift whole apiaries. As a result the strong colonies were able to get three good supers, the smaller ones filled the brood boxes but put only a few pounds up on top.
In the end I have taken off just over a ton and a quarter from 102 colonies at the hill so that is an average of about 25lbs. Pretty good in the circumstances.
The blossom has been a different story. Two sites near Biggar did well but for the rest the average is only 10 lbs per colony.
More worrying is the number of queens which have already become drone layers and the likelihood of that being the case in spring as well.

[gavin]

Thanks John. That was a feature of my bees this year too - only the strongest performed well. I've heard others say Buckfast don't winter well here and although I had a sample of one (many years ago) that was my experience too. They were pretty bees, that was for sure, but I wasn't unhappy when they petered out overwinter.

.... Just another example of how adaptive Buckfast bees are ...

In fairness .....

Speaking of fairness, Duncan, could you please explain to the reader just how you earn your crust? I think it important to help people judge the worth of your comments.

G.

[fatshark]

The hives I was lifting were light because I always take off the honey before moving the bees.

Glad that's cleared up ... the way you were hoisting them up made me feel totally inadequate

[The Drone Ranger]

Beekeeping has some parallels with chicken keeping

For example a barred rock crossed with a Rhode Island red gives a great layer perfect for free range in all weather a Black Rock
But, and its a big but, that chicken which is called a Black Rock is only really produced reliably by line breeding two specific parent lines
The Muirfield Hatchery which was run by Peter Siddons using stock originally bred in South Africa was only true black rock
That's not to say that other people might not cross the barred Rock and Rhode Island red and get something that looks the same
The thing is they may or may not match the true black rock (mostly not) in health and productivity

So the point here is the strain is more important than the breed.
Some is a useful word which is often omitted from bee type descriptions

So while all Carniolans will have some common features only some Carniolans will have all the attributes ascribed to the breed
Likewise, although all Amm will have some common features only some strains will be able to live up to the expectations of buyers
Buckfast will be exactly the same because there are many strains and some will be good some less so

[Duncan]

Posted by Gavin:Speaking of fairness, Duncan, could you please explain to the reader just how you earn your crust? I think it important to help people judge the worth of your comments.

Why ask a question that you already know the answer to?

I think it is common knowledge that I am the owner of Superbee-Buckfast apiaries based in Cyprus. If you are really interested, you can visit our website.
www.superbee-cy.com
Facebook: Buckfast Beekeepers Group.

[Mellifera Crofter]

Why ask a question that you already know the answer to? I think it is common knowledge that I am the owner of Superbee-Buckfast apiaries based in Cyprus.
...

No - I didn't know!
Kitta