PRODUCING HEATHER HONEY - PART ONE

I have lost count of the many times I have pontificated of the additional effort to produce heather honey is worthwhile, however I don’t know any different, so continue an annual cycle of beekeeping with the anticipation of 2 weeks of good weather in August.

Heather honey is a premium quality honey, and it is not too difficult to ensure steps are taken to ensure colonies are the right strength at the right time to maximise the crop and hope for the good weather.

 

TYPES OF HEATHER HONEY 

There are basically two types of heather honey;

• Bell Heather (my personal favourite) which flowers July onwards and is a dark coloured, ruby red, liquid honey which can be extracted normally.

• Ling heather flowers later in August, its colour can range from dark brown to ruby red, it has characteristic small air bubbles and is thixotropic. It has some minor challenges to get from the comb to jar.

    

For exhibition or Show bench purposes the honey should be as much pure heather as possible, it should be displayed in the gel state with uniform size of bubbles.

Pure Ling Heather will not granulate for some considerable time, it does have a higher water content than other honey, making it more liable to ferment in storage. Stored honey must come from combs that were properly capped prior to removing from the hive.

      

HEATHER STANCE

The location that hives are taken to on the moors is often referred to as a “heather stance”.

It is not acceptable just to drop hives off on the moor, obtaining the correct landowner permission and paying jars of honey as ‘rent’ is a primary consideration, the hives must not cause problems to gamekeepers, walkers and picnickers. Shelter from wind and flood risks are important considerations, ideally the hives are best facing in a southerly direction, where possible.

A well-managed and maintained grouse moor is ideal as the area will be managed in such a way that plenty of young heather shoots are available, the young shoots are for the grouse to feed on and they yield most nectar.

It is best to position each hive directly on the ground (without hive stands), as this will prevent them being knocked over by sheep as they love to scratch themselves on the sides of the hives. It is best to leave the hive straps fitted and hives placed 2 sheep widths apart.

Easy access by vehicle is important, supers or frames of honey need to be quickly taken away to secure bee proof area will eliminate robbing.

 

COLONY SELECTION & DEVELOPMENT

The basic requirement is to have:-

• plenty of bees,
• at the right age,
• at the right time.

This applies equally for maximising any honey crop and the dates / timings can be applied to any particular honey crop and varied dependant on the area you keep your bees.

Every year there is the same debate “when should all the hives be on the moor?” Times do vary but it is anticipated the heather should yield nectar around “the Glorious 12th” the commencement of the grouse shooting season. So, it is best to use the 12^th of August as target date. Seasonal variations can occur by a week or two.

There is little point taking small hives to the heather, (they are not going to admire the view) they need to be productive colonies to be worth the time and effort. The aim is therefore, to have colonies on a minimum of 10-11 frames of brood, in the brood chamber. (based on BS National frames)

Many beekeepers are well aware of the need to add space for incoming nectar, but they may not consider space for brood production.

To maximise honey production, plenty of available foraging bees are required for the whole period the bees are on the moors. This means ensuring plenty of eggs are laid 6 weeks prior to the start of August (ie mid-June) and through July.

To maximise the honey crop reorganising or manipulation of brood frames should be carried out with the intention of maximising queen performance for brood production, by spreading brood.

Simple step are:-

• Prior and up to taking them to the heather, good heather gathering colonies require plenty of brood (10-11 frames) and plenty of foraging bees
• Whilst they are on the moors space for egg laying is important to produce ‘winter bees’
• In early June and onwards, on a weekly basis during routine swarm inspections, spread the centre of the brood nest and place at least 1 (or more if a strong colony), of empty drawn combs in the centre to ensure the queen lays lots of eggs in the centre of the brood nest.
• This applies to all combs making up the brood nest (double or brood and half)
• Maintaining a pyramid of new eggs and larva with the old brood on the outside, the queen must not be short of available cells for egg laying
• If any combs contain an arch of sealed honey – this will keep the queen below the sealed honey and she will reduce laying, either move these combs up or bruise up the sealed cells with the hive tool and then the bees will move the honey up the hive (sealed honey is natures Queen Excluder)
• The old brood moved to the outside will push honey up to the supers
• At this stage producing eggs is the major consideration.
• As this period often occurs during the traditional ‘June Gap’ simulative feed may be needed.
• Have hives set in pairs

The next step is very important, the week prior to moving the colonies to heather stance:-

• Move young brood to the outside (reverse of above) the older brood is now in the centre, and this will emerge first whilst on the moor, the queen will then re-lay in these cells to produce ‘winter’ bees. The young brood on the outside makes sure the honey goes in the top boxes.
• Any sealed Summer honey should be removed, if unsealed it can be placed on other colonies or left on the top of the hives that are going to the moor, for food insurance.
• Put empty drawn supers on to give space for the bees to expand into during transit. A general rule is, add 1 super for every box of brood, so if a brood and ½ then 2 empty supers are required.
• Harvest flying bees from adjacent colony by moving the adjacent hive away by a couple of metres.

Drawn combs will maximise honey production having them drawn on earlier crops and spun out. Remember it takes ~ 10lb of honey to produce 1lb of bees wax. Using thin super or even starter strips, which have to be drawn will lose lots of valuable heather honey.

Maintain levels of top insulation whilst the hives are on the moor, due to the cold night-time temperatures, it takes far less energy for the bees to ventilate and cool the hives than it does to keep warm.

The valuable heather nectar will be ripened, turned into honey and sealed much quicker if the hive temperature is constant and the bees only have to ventilate.

 

MOVING OR TRANSPORTING COLONIES OF BEES

Moving bees is quite a stressful time for both the beekeeper and more importantly the bees. It should and can be a relatively straightforward task if planned well and all equipment is of good condition, properly assembled and contingencies prepared. The distance to move the bees does pose a few different considerations, which need to be taken into consideration.

Strap the boxes together securely, if you are unsure about the security of hives then use a couple of straps, not at 90 degrees to each other but placed parallel, that way the individual boxes cannot actually twist and let out bees.

Allow plenty of time to do the moving, things go wrong when rushing. The hives can be prepared in advance by fitting straps and placing ventilation mesh on the top the day before and having entrance closures ready.

Carefully consider the time of day to move the hives, there are many advantages and disadvantages over evening or early morning, it really does come down to a matter of personal preference.

The main advantage of moving the hives in early morning is you are not chasing loss of daylight, but the downside is rising daytime temperature. If you do adopt the early morning approach the latest time you should aim to complete the move is 7am, so an early start.

If late evening is favoure the main problem is fading light. If things go wrong sorting it out in the dark and summoning up assistance can be problematic. However, if bees do escape it is simple to leave the hive, the bees will re-enter, then you can take action later.

Prepare for things to go wrong and make suitable contingencies. A really useful tool is a roll of 50mm ‘gaffer/duct’ tape, any escaping bees can quickly and easily be taped over before they become a major problem. It is also useful to have the roll at hand by keeping it placed over the car gear lever, then you are not frantically searching in the car footwells.

It is rather unlikely your smoker will be ready and lit, so that is of little use if bees are escaping. There are a variety of spray type deterrents (fabispray /apifuge) are really useful as these can be used very quickly, so too can a normal plant type water mist spray.

It is also good advice to wear your bee-suit as a precaution and have gloves available.

If bees do escape during transport there is no need to worry, it can be a little un-nerving if not used to it but they don’t pose a hazard as they will fly to the glass in the car and really not bother you at all. The only time I have been stung is by squashing them by sitting on them.

Giving expansion space of one empty super for every box of brood as useful ‘rule of thumb’ prior to moving, provided you have done this then full top mesh travelling screens are not required for a trip < 50miles. The porter bee escape hole in the glass quilt or cover board is blocked off with a section of varroa mesh (or porter vents) is suitable ventilation for short trips.

Just a small caution regarding the supers –if thin super foundation is fitted this can vibrate out of the frames during transporting and not realised until the next inspection when a real mess is found, drawn out comb is much better.

Too much top ventilation can be a disadvantage. I take off the hive roof and transport this off the hive, but the bees kept in the dark by a hessian sack over the top of the glass quilt/cover board.

When arrived on the moor position the hives directly on level ground, with a piece of thin plywood (or similar) to flatten grass or bracken in front of the hive. It is best to leave them to settle for up to 10 minutes before removing the foam entrance blocks. I also count them to make sure I have the same number of removed entrance blocks as the number of hives moved, as a final check. Leave the straps on so they are protected from being dislodged by wind or sheep.

Assuming the bees were taken to the moor early August, and the weather has been kind and the heather is lasting well, there is always the temptation to add more supers if the weather is looking favourable, but caution is required as this can be counterproductive.

Heather honey contains higher moisture content than flower honey it can ferment easier if stored in the unripe condition, it is far better to get 1 or 2 fully capped supers than 3 or 4 that are only partially capped.

To aid capping move the sealed frames to the outside and relocate unsealed to the middle, to encourages the bees to continue working in a pyramid structure.

At this stage and if the weather remains fine, then a few sealed frames can be removed and more unsealed frames can be added in the centre, this action is better than adding a full super.

Prolonged poor cold and/or wet weather can occur whilst on the moor and starvation can arise very quickly. If weather has been poor, then check them for remaining food stores. Large hives are the most vulnerable due to the food demand, they can starve to death in a matter of a couple of days, feeding on the moor is not un-heard of.

 

SUMMARY

Key aspects

• Move colonies onto moor beginning of August

• Breed for foraging bees to be available and ready for beginning of August

• Egg laying space is needed from early to mid-June

• Queen excluders are not necessary

• Robbing on moors is very likely

• Drawn comp is vital

 

READ PART TWO