The usual October ivy flow is on here in our hedged landscape - air temperature (shade) in my apiary is 11.5C. There is massive activity, with just about every returning bee heavy with ivy pollen loads. Probably the super (no frames) I keep under my national brood boxes (to help reduce wind effects) is filling with honey (hives were fed in September and have loads of non-ivy stores). Last year when I put supers with drawn frames on top of my hives during the ivy flow, I got more honey than I harvested during the Summer.

Surely, there is scope for a budding entrepreneur to capitalise on the bee-productive mild autumns of western Ireland and Scotland to develop a process for harvesting and marketing ivy honey, despite the awkward time of year, rapid crystallisation and "acquired" taste issues?