November to March
In winter honey bees do not actually hibernate, but rest in a cluster. The temperature in the midst of the cluster is kept warm by their bodyheat. Eating honey stored in summer provides this warmth; but if stores run out the bees cannot survive. Bees try to keep their home clean so make cleansing flights on mild days.
As the days lengthen and the weather warms up (not guaranteed here!) the queen bee, of which there is one in each hive, is stimulated to lay larger numbers of eggs. The colony grows stronger week by week, taking advantage of early sources of pollen such as willow trees. This is their source of protein to feed the young bee larvae.
April to May
Winter quarters for beehives are not always adjacent to the flowering crops. It is time to move a thousand hives nearer to the first major nectar sources of the year, such as winter-sown oilseed rape.
Next, if the days are warm enough, beekeepers open each hive in turn and locate the queen by searching each frame individually. Once she is marked with a dot of quick-drying paint she can be more easily found on later visits to the hive.
Knowing the status and age of the queen is crucial to controlling honey bees' natural swarming urge. Swarm control is the largest part of a beekeeper's work. After all, if most of the bees leave the hive there will be little reward for his work!
June
When a hive has reached a vigorous and healthy state the urge to swarm kicks in. By this natural method of division one hive may become two or more.
In good weather the queen leaves the hive, taking to the wing with tens of thousands of bees, each gorged with a full load of honey. After spending a limited period hanging in a cluster the swarm moves as one to a newly discovered home, perhaps in a hollow tree or – more annoyingly – an accessible cavity in a building.
To minimise the occurrence of swarming the beekeepers examine each hive in detail looking for signs of swarming. If the tell-tale queen cells are found the hive is instantly divided in two, forestalling the act of swarming.
In June there is also honey to be harvested by the beekeepers.
July
Boxes of blossom honey known as 'supers' are removed from the hives to the farm for extracting. Now that the hives are light enough to carry they can be loaded up and moved to the next crop of the year: heather.
The beehives need to be closed for transit while the bees are at home, so the moving takes place early in the morning or late evening.
The moving continues each day for most of July. We like to think of it as taking the bees on their summer holidays in the hills. When they get there they will be confronted by hundreds of acres of Bell heather. When conditions are right the bees are desperate to work long hours gathering the precious nectar and pollen.
At the end of the month this honey is removed and extracted.
August
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. Horizntal sleet is not unknown in the hills in August...
September to October
When the surplus honey has bee removed it is time to feed any light hives with extra food to get them through the winter. A special invert syrup which is easy for them to digest is provided, which they store in the combs just like honey, and from where it can be used as needed.
The Varroa mite, an exotic and destructive parasite recently arrived in Scotland, is one of the many bee diseses that must be confronted each the year. It cannot be erradicated and must be controlled with medication. This is administered after the heather honey has been removed.
Last job of the season is to take all the beehives back to sheltered winter quarters on low ground where they may better weather storm and ice, ready to face another year and another chapter in the amazing story of Heather Hills honey.
