2020
SPRING WILD FLOWER HARVEST
The start of the season was hot and dry, following on from a wet winter – I lost 20 % of my hives mainly due to wet conditions rather than the cold. Those hives that came through were again working an abundant showing of Winter Heather, Snowdrops and Crocuses followed by the spring Heather and a reasonable flowering of our Camellia bushes. The exceptionally dry March, April and May meant lots of pollen but poor nectar flow/
Dandelions and Bluebells were important again and the Manuka was abundant, but all were outshone by yet another prolonged showing of Hawthorne.
June saw rains coming in which meant large colonies having to eat into their surplus stock of honey to keep going. I did however manage to take off about 300 lbs of a rich golden pollen-laden honey from the hives in the last week of June almost all of which came from just two hives which had done very well. This year again the Hawthorne has given it an almond-vanilla taste which lasts long in the mouth firing off the taste buds for ages.
SUMMER WILD FLOWER HARVEST
This year is a complete contrast to last year. The rains continued through to the start of August and the yield was down about 60%, probably a combination of poor start and then bad weather. The honey I took off at the start of August was only slightly lighter than the Spring crop. The contrast of last years honeys was dramatic and I have left that image below. This year both Spring and Summer honeys were more amber than light.
The backbone of the Summer honey is again Blackberry, although the honey from Spring wild flowers left in my slower hives from earlier in the year complemented the honey with a more complex taste.
Autumn update:
By the middle of August we had harvested a total of 900 lbs from 15 hives.
We took no more honey from the hives after the middle of August, leaving all hives with a full super for their own Winter stores. After the ivy flow in late Autumn, all hives were still loaded with honey which – hopefully – will mean a good survival rate this coming Winter.
