Hives of activity

Signs warn 'Caution Bees at work'. It's that time of year in the forest when the bees do their thing. The heathland is radiant, her purple cloak in full bloom, flowers all brimming with nectar, and clusters of hives now hide amongst the scattered clumps of gorse set to exploit natures bounty in the pursuit of glorious bee gold.

Oh Beehive

Two faces of bees in the forest, professional bee keeping hives placed out to exploit the forests heathery bee gardens, and a wild colony hidden in one of Red Rise's oaks. You see the professional hives out every year (soften a dozen or so grouped together), the forest has one of the largest beekeeping associations in the country, and produces some fine honey. The wild colony I first spotted one spring some years back, each year I've checked on the colony, and they appear to be doing okay. I don't know how long it'll endure though, a queen only has a 3 to 4 year lifespan. I don't know if the colony then disbands or another queen steps up and the colony continues on.  Thinking about it, I'm sure it was longer than 4 years ago I first came this tree.

Tell 'em about the honey, mummy

It's that time of the year when you might spot clusters of boxes dotted on the distant open heathland slopes, these will be Bee Hives.  The hives are brought out into forest by bee keepers during the late summer to take advantage of the abundance of heather, said to be the finest of honey.  They'll be gone soon as the heather has all but gone over. When you hear 'forest' you think trees, don't you, and there are plenty of trees around here, for sure, although the majority of the New Forest is actually open heathland, with elements of wet heath. Here Heather and Ling are king, being by far the dominant ground flora, so there's a lot of pollen to be gathered.

Hive of activity

The hives are about in the forest, with the bees making the most of the heather, which just keep on flowering. Up here on Hampton Ridge the hives are surrounded by several square miles of open heather carpeted heath for the bees to feast on. Placing hives out in the forest is a tradition which goes back hundreds of years at least, and is testified to by a place name containing 'Bee Garden' or just 'Garden'. In times past Bee Gardens would have been banked enclosures topped with fencing or hedge to protect the hives, now though the hives are left scattered amongst the dense gorse as protection.  I saw 5 or 6 hives, all buzzing with activity. I wonder how much honey you get from each hive?