Scottish heather honey bees harvest the nectar from wild heather. – Smiths wooden beehives, on heather moors, Cairngorms National Park, Scotland UK
Ling heather CALLUNA vulgaris is found and to a lesser extent the bell heathers ERICAS cinerea tetralix from which Scottish beekeepers produce a pleasing run honey from the bell heather usually in July which can be readily extracted. For the beekeeper the best heather moors are the well managed grouse moors where the old ling is burnt on a regular basis to encourage new growth. Around the first day of August the Ling heather buds burst open, flooding the mountains with a vivid purple. This is the main chance of the year for the bees to produce substantial weights of honey. For a period the bees may be left to their own devices, and a perhaps a prayer may go up for favourable weather. From just north of Blairgowrie, Heather Hills’ 1300 hives of bees play a crucial role in pollinating the famous soft fruit from this part of Perthshire. Blossom honey is harvested in late June, and tastes milder, smoother and lighter than heather honey. It is removed from the honeycomb on collection from the hive, whilst the honey is still in liquid form - this negates the need to heat the combs for extraction, thus destroying some of the enzymes and good bacteria naturally present. The liquid blossom honey is stored in a (non-heated) settling tank in which any impurities present float to the surface and the pure honey is drained from the bottom of the tank. The heather honey, being much thicker, is subjected to a spinner in which the honey is spun through a small mesh filter to remove any impurities.
Size: 3413px × 5120px
Location: Moorland, Cairngorm National Park, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, UK
Photo credit: © MediaWorldImages / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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