It’s July Honey

Talking to beefarmers across the country, the general consensus is it’s been another poor year for honey production. With the heatwaves and the associated lack of rainfall for the trees and plants to produce their nectars and pollens, the raw materials just haven’t been there for the bees.

Nectar flows have literally been short and sweet, the bramble was over in a week or two. Lime the same. Even the love it or hate Himalayan balsam was done flowering in June. This plant usually provides nectar sources as late as October. Reports of honey harvests from the Borage again have been poor. Currently people are preparing to move their hives to the uplands for the heather honey harvest, though there are no great expectations this year as despite the warm weather the rainfall hasn’t been their for the plants to develop to their maximum potential. Even in the forest, you can see signs in the leaves of the ancient oaks of water deprivation.

Never to be forgotten, this is the Great British Isles and you can be sure of one thing, that the weather will change. And given time, it always changes for the better