Waldemar:

> I assume this is mostly in Scotland.

No, there are very good heather moors in England - notably the Northeast, 
Yorkshire, Derbyshire, but there is also heather in the New Forest 
(Southeast) and Devon and Cornwall (Southwest) - and Wales of course.

Speaking personally, we move 36 colonies 150+ miles to heather (in 
Yorkshire) and crops vary from just a few pounds per hive in a bad year 
(like 2008), to acceptable (20lbs per hive this year), to good (50-60lbs per 
hive a couple of years ago).  However, the heather is just a bonus for us 
and there will be beekeepers in Scotland, and the Northeast of England, for 
whom the heather crop is of much more importance and I have no doubt that 
they would expect more.

Heather flowers in August (statistically one of our wettest months) and is 
not an easy crop to obtain.  It is said (!) that heather requires good rain 
in May and warm nights and gentle winds in August when it is in flower.  NE 
winds will stop the flow.  Colonies should be strong when moved to the 
heather and should have a young queen that will carry on laying late (July 
is normally the end of our season here in the Midlands) so that the honey 
goes in the supers rather than the brood box.
Best wishes

Peter Edwards
beekeepers at stratford-upon-avon.freeserve.co.uk
www.stratford-upon-avon.freeserve.co.uk/

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