Well the honey for your morning toast has to start somewhere!! I went up onto Hanging Moor today to get some pictures of the heather which is now the most beautiful shade of purple. Once on top of the moor the view for miles around was the purple heather. The Beekeepers who bring their bees onto the moor for the summer have all placed their hives some time ago and the bees were busy working. The picture of some of the hives has a slight blur but there was a rain spot on the Land Rover window and there was no way I was going to get out or open the window!!!. The bees just surrounded the vehicle, i dont know if they thought it was a large blue flower!!
Hives placed on the heather have to be in a place chosen with care often in a gully, or sheltered valley.The beekeepers have to make sure the spot will not flood as there have been occasions when hives have been partly submerged and even washed away after torrential downpours on the moorland tops. Shelter is of the utmost importance and the bees should be able to fly out up the hill and come down hill loaded.
I have read articles that state Heather honey is the 'Rolls Royce of honey' and 'rather special stuff'!! Oh and another interesting fact is that the bees who do all the work are the females, the boys (drones) just laze around apparently!! Eating honey!! Ill leave it at that I think !
How lovely to read all about the heather honey and the bees. We went up bransdale the oterh night and saw lots of hives sheltered by the stone walls. Didnt realise only the girls did the work So next time we put honey on our toast we will think of all the work that these girl bees do -who are on miminum wages - a treat of extra sugar in winter I think it is what they got when my uncle used to have hives.
ReplyDeleteAnna
www.carrhousefarm.co.uk