Heather weather

**Jambo** · 10-07-2018, 02:56 PM

It is raining in the hills - a wee bit - this site has lots of data: http://apps.sepa.org.uk/rainfall

Although to be useful you'd also need to know how much rain is enough - I have no idea!

**greengumbo** · 12-07-2018, 03:38 PM

Cheers !

Our site actually looked okay. The bell heather looks great this year and the ling is still a while off I think. I only moved four hives in the end - mainly as I was going for a look anyway and secondly as the rest are crammed with clover honey and the hives are stupidly big. Third extraction of the year for some hives coming up then they can all go and I can breathe a sigh of relief for 6 weeks

**Feckless Drone** · 12-07-2018, 04:46 PM

Pleased to see a bit more rain today - I've been walking in the hills and its been bone dry. I put a couple of hives on a bell site, however I've likely missed it. A lot of the bell on that site actually passed the best (Angus glens so will be south of you GG). I have seen ling that looks pretty well on so plan to move other hives end of next week once all the uniting is done.

**Thymallus** · 12-07-2018, 08:55 PM

Worth remembering that heather moors are really large boggy water sinks. It may be dry on top but underneath there is still a lot of water. I'm looking forward to seeing what the crop is like this year as it will provide a lot of info on what is required (or not) for a good heather crop. Last two years we have had very wet June's and July's and exceptionally good weather in August which has given bumper crops.
Is it the foraging weather? Or the amount of rain in June/July?
Seeing the staggering amounts of honey being brought in with our long extended hot dry conditions my money is on the weather.

**Bridget** · 26-08-2018, 08:48 AM

Heee in the Highlands boxes all bursting with bees and looking v busy when weather allows but very little heather coming in. Luckily had some blossom honey earlier. So looking poor for us but good for strong colonies going into winter. More than doubled our colonies what with splits some of which still swarmed later. Now have one to combine I think and supers off next weekend.

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**Calluna4u** · 26-08-2018, 06:37 PM

Well I got a surprise at Dinnet today...was up on a muchroom foray with one of my daughters and realised the heather is in far better condition than it was two weeks ago. This was true of several spots.

Yes ll was brown two weeks ago but all the plants that just stopped developing because of the drought earlier are now in flower. I would say it has 10 days to 2 weeks still in it there.....I suspect its just a Deeside thing but have Italian visitors tomorrow for 3 days and on Tuesday we are going to Glenfeshie.

Big thing was that hives that had very little last time I looked (which WAS in late July) now have some serious honey. but the 5 sites I checked will now have averages varying from about 23 to 38Kg...actually pretty decent. (Note to those who might think this not much....it includes EVERY colony in the group, even the young singles just up there to earn their winter keep.) There was some residual smell and light fanning from whatever they did on Saturday.

So....maybe NOT totally over yet. Even a couple of kilos more adds up to quite a sum.

**Feckless Drone** · 27-08-2018, 09:30 AM

Originally Posted by Calluna4u

Note to those who might think this not much....

I'd be delighted with 10 Kg per colony harvested heather honey never mind what you are getting C4U. I had a miserable morning yesterday in the Angus glens - taking supers off and getting the bees setup for a trip back home. My crop this year is going to be pretty poor and I think this is to do more with colony strength (and timing for bees of the right age) rather than the heather. I say this on the basis of a couple of colonies doing OK. Also, a predilection for getting sections not helping me. It was a real surprise to see the second flush of flowering you were describing - in places the heather, especially the bell, looks better than it did a couple of weeks ago.

BTW - the Porter's worked almost perfectly this year - helped by a couple of very cold nights.

**Calluna4u** · 30-08-2018, 09:02 AM

Originally Posted by Feckless Drone

I'd be delighted with 10 Kg per colony harvested heather honey never mind what you are getting C4U. I had a miserable morning yesterday in the Angus glens - taking supers off and getting the bees setup for a trip back home. My crop this year is going to be pretty poor and I think this is to do more with colony strength (and timing for bees of the right age) rather than the heather. I say this on the basis of a couple of colonies doing OK. Also, a predilection for getting sections not helping me. It was a real surprise to see the second flush of flowering you were describing - in places the heather, especially the bell, looks better than it did a couple of weeks ago.

BTW - the Porter's worked almost perfectly this year - helped by a couple of very cold nights.

What date did you go up?

Have our best yields in Glenesk and Glengairn...poorest will be the later bees up the A9 north of Dalwhinnie or any bees placed in Angus after 1st August.

However...the picture is very mixed even in the August bees. I said we were going to Glenfeshie and those bees (6 sites, many are from our own queen unit) have somehow packed in (estimated) 18 to 20Kg average.

Bees placed near Dalwhinnie in the same week have practically zero...well not zero but a pretty paltry crop.

However there is still heather flower in all areas up there from late flowering clumps, so the weather over the next few days might give a bit more....the colonies are of better bee power than normal for the end of August (possibly due to inactivity not burning them out) so they have a chance. It was pretty cold on the western moors Tues/Wed so there was very little bee flight, but my guy working in Deeside west of Ballater reported good flight there, a lot of pollen, but no appreciable nectar.

Overall impression thus is that some areas are outstanding, others average, and a significant minority very poor. Therefore thinking that, all lumped together it will be somewhat above average heather but not bumper. Pretty content with that given all the problems we faced this year.

Will start boarding some of the earliest finishing areas (east Deeside I think) at the end of next week.

and...FWIW....and now rather out of date...we did side by side testing on various levels of crop from different types of supering at the heather back in the 80's. Sections results were only around 20% of the harvest of the best system (for weight of harvest) which was drawn comb deeps. A fairly predictable hierarchy of crop.....Drawn deeps best, then drawn shallows, foundation deeps, foundation shallows, thin super shallows (significant difference from using standard weight foundation), and lagging far behind were starter strips and sections.

**Feckless Drone** · 30-08-2018, 11:00 AM

[QUOTE=Calluna4u;39852]What date did you go up?

Colonies sent for the bell on 8th July (Lethnot), then for ling went up 2 weeks later to a different site (Prosen). I noted your survey previously - and I know its not efficient - but I love sections! Nevertheless, its a poor return so I will revise the strategy for next year, maybe try some deeps but my shoulder might not be capable for that.

Putting some bell into the Dundee Flower and Food Festival competition this year, but it is maybe a bit paler than the judges would like. The taste is fantastic - far and away the best and most costly honey I've ever produced.

And while I am here - anyone at the DFFF this weekend - please pop over to the ESBA stand and introduce yourself.