Heather Honey

A talk by Michael Hunt of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire

Date: Thursday 22 April 2004

Venue:  Church Rooms, Stow on the Wold

Notes by: Jeremy Voaden

Why heather honey?

Heather honey is “the Rolls Royce of honey”. It is “very special stuff”. It is “one of those things they people love or loathe”. But how to get it is the key question for us beekeepers. Michael states that he hasn’t “learnt anything about the heather run from books, just trial and error over the years”.

First, find your site

How far are you willing to go from the North Cotswolds? Cleeve Hill is our nearest heather. But it is a small patch. We need hundreds of acres!

So there is Devon, Hampshire, Derbyshire, Yorkshire, Scotland or Wales.

Need to find a spot where no-one else is already. So the best time to go on a recce is when the heather is out. Usually 15-20 August is prime time.

Then you can see where others place their bees.

If you take your bees to the Yorkshire moors, the bees have a choice-Either take the heather nectar……or starve! If they have a choice of brambles, gorse, garden flowers and heather then rest assured, they will go for the former choices and you will get heather honey with great big lumps in it.

It is far better to do an extra 100 miles and get a good, pure crop than go less distance and then have to feed your bees because they are starving. In Michael’s experience, Wales has “1 good crop in 7 on the heather”….”In Yorkshire, where I have been for the last 20 years, I have had a crop every year”.

Transport

If you are travelling 250 miles to the heather, there is no point in taking 1 or 2 hives. You need a trailer, flat-back of pick-up and Michael takes a minimum of 16 hives. These go up with 2 Supers on, and come back with 2 full Supers most years and a Brood Box filled too.

It is therefore important, given this weight, to design a system to manoeuvre your hives. Over the years, Michael has devised various aids to help him “on the Yorkshire run”. He has also invested in a four-wheel trailer following a number of

experiences of “blow outs” with a laden two-wheel trailer!

Weather

Make sure that you can get onto and off the site in September’s worst weathers.

How is the site following days of heavy rain?

It is also important to keep an eye on the spring weather as this will inform the logistics of the “heather adventure”. Michael starts getting ready for “going to the moors” in May. If it is very dry in May, then won’t have a good crop. Heather needs water on the moors in Spring to yield a big crop in August.

Michael holds back drawn cut-comb to go up to the moors. With 16 hives, he’ll need 160-200 drawn cut comb from the previous year to take to the moors.

Each hive going up has one Super of drawn comb and one Super of foundation.

If you put 2 Supers of drawn on, the bees put honey round everything but don’t finish it off by capping. Using his method of 1 drawn + 1 foundation, the bees will fill and finish off the first and draw and use the second if they need it.

The Colonies to take

The colonies to go should sustain a peak brood size over 8-10 frames. They should also have a young Queen. If taking 16 colonies, Michael will have 22 “in mind” as choices on the basis that some will lose their “get up and go”.

At the end of July, move these colonies to a new crop in order to stimulate the Queen to an extra burst of activity.

Colony manipulations

In June, the bees in these big strong colonies start to put honey into the outer frames of the Brood Box as the nest starts to contract. Michael therefore moves frames of brood to the edge and these honey-filled frames to the centre. The bees then clear this honey up to the top Supers.

2-3 days before leaving for the heather, Michael moves young brood to the flanks again. Thus when nectar comes in on the moors, the bees put it straight into the Super, not into the Brood Box. When “the flow” starts, the Queen stops laying but, with enough bees and at least 10 days of good weather over the 6-week duration of stay on the moors, the bees will fill the 2 Supers.

Which heather to go for?

Bell Heather (big flowers) produces honey which is runny and can be spun out.

Ling heather produces thick, almost gelatinous honey that is extracted by pressing. This is what we are after.

Melt down when travelling

Sometimes, in transit, bees can overheat. The wax in the brood box melts, the honey flows out and all the bees die.

If Michael is leaving for the moors at 2.30am, the bees will be flying in Yorkshire by 7.30-8.00am. Using a watering can or coarse spray, he will spray the mesh travelling screens at 10pm and again at 2.30am before “hitting the road”.

Hive stands

Michael uses pallets as hive stands. Between visits, the pallets are covered with a canvas and left in Yorkshire. Each pallet supports four hives, each with their entrance in a different direction. If the hives are put in lines, the bees drift and so you not only get disproportionate crops at either end of the line but risk the spread of disease.

Livestock and warmth

If then hives are not protected against sheep, then the beasts scratch themselves on the hives and knock the Supers off.

If you strap the hive together, when they sheep scratch themselves, the whole hive falls over.

However, using the “four together on a pallet” method, the 4 hives support each other. This also creates a small heat island, helping to keep cold and damp out.

Michael had a 100% increase in honey yield when he moved to the four-in-a-square configuration.

The hive roofs are covered with 2-inch polystyrene with hardboard on top. A canvas is draped over the top and sides, further insulated by the inner tubes of cars. The canvas is tied around the hives.

All this effort is worthwhile. 16 hives yielding 2 Supers each produces a crop with a value of c.£2,000. Heather honey provides the best financial return over the year. “This is why commercial bee farmers love going to the heather”.

Extracting

Michael puts his crop into an MG Press and turns the arms to squeeze out the honey. The really good stuff is sold as cut comb.

Stings

Some people can react very differently to their normal reaction when stung by bees that have been working the heather. The effect of the venom can be more severe. Michael recommends carrying an Epi-pen in case of a severe reaction.