heatherpicturegallery

Award Winning Heather Honey from the Peak District here in Derbyshire

Heather honey is my favourite of all and to produce this special delicious tasting honey, I take my hives to the moorlands of Derbyshire at the end of July to our apiary in the heart of the Peak District. The Ling Heather (Calluna vulgaris) is just coming into flower and my hives share the changing colours of the moors with the sheep and grouse as they turn from a dark green into a spectacular purple.

The pictures below, tells you a story of what goes on, from the work done by us, to the finished product, a jar of award winning Heather Honey.

Ling heather honey (Calluna vulgaris) in flower at the end of July at our apiary in the Peak District	The Ling heather now fully out in early August, producing a gel like honey and brown pollen		A small amount of bell heather (Erica Cinerea) in flower near by being dwarfed by the Ling Heather
Hives in position on the stands with our light weight roofs held down with rocks	First inspection two weeks later, and the frames are slowly filling with heather honey	That's more like it, a nicely filled frame of heather honey "glowing" in the low sun at the end of August	Hives high up on the moorlands of the Peak District and sheltered from the winds by the Scot's Pine trees
Catherine and Chris came along to help with the inspections and collect the honey supers	All of the heather honey now gathered to rush back and get the first crop bottled for my eager customers. Hives now have empty supers for extra bee space.	Mid September and a cool and misty day, no bees flying, heather finished, travel screens and straps replaced and finally entrance plugged for their return	Heather press lined with the scrim cloth and filled with the heather honey ready to press out
Heather press in action squeezing out the heather honey, note the heavy duty spring to keep the tension on the scrim cloth	The Heather Honey is squeezed through the cloths and slowly filling the bucket below, ready to be bottled for our enthusiastic customers	The finished product, the jar reveals the colours produced by the moorlands of Derbyshire. This is the best of our honeys produced by the work of the bees and assisted by our selves	And finally. It has been worth the time and trouble, our Heather honey won first prize at the Derbyshire Beekeepers Association honey show and we won the Fred Fountain Cup in 2006 and again in 2007

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