Beekeeper wearing beekeeper's clothing bee suits & smoke machine, smoker on heather hills collecting honey Cairngorms National Park, Scotland, UK
Honey is a seasonal product ' in Scotland there are three flows ' spring, summer and autumn as during winter bees take a rest in a cluster to keep warm. As the days lengthen and the weather becomes milder, usually in April (but obviously not always guaranteed here!), it is time to move beehives nearer to the first available nectar sources of the year, such as oil-seed rape and raspberry flowers in the fertile farmland and fruit growing areas. In June, there is honey to be harvested and beekeepers must also keep an eye out for the threat of bees swarming. To prevent the queen following her natural urge to leave the hive to look for a new home, taking with her thousands of workers each full of honey, hives are often divided in two. Throughout July the Bell heather begins to blossom purple on the mountains and glens, thousands of hives are transported through the night to get closer to the next important pollen source. When conditions are right, with long hours of sunshine, the bees work hard at harvesting tiny beads of heather nectar and pollen. Bees can travel thousands and thousands of miles back and forth within a small radius to produce just one 500g jar of honey and the combs are collected around the end of the month. By August, the Ling heather is beginning to bloom and this also produces a rich, distinctive honey, full of flavour. Scottish heather honey is in demand all over the world because of its unusual smoky or tangy taste and its dark amber colour. Honey has long been recognised for its health properties and the darker the honey, the higher it is in antioxidants. Indeed, scientists have discovered that honey can help to lower cholesterol levels and surprisingly, perhaps, it can contain as many antioxidants as spinach, strawberries or apples.
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