"Suz" wrote in message
...


My granda had a dozen or so hives, and a big tin extractor. Along the
verge
at the front of the house he had dandelions which he wouldn't scythe until
they were goiing to seed. the honey from that had a yellow tinge.

Dandelions, apart from being very beautiful, are very good nectar producers.
Top fruit growers hire hives of bees to pollinate their trees but they
always make sure that the dandelions are cut first. Dandelions begin
producing nectar earlier in the day than the tree blossom and once honey
bees have started working - collecting from - one type of flower they won't
go to others until the first nectar source has finished.

I can still remember a very hot day when most of the hives swarmed
together.
Quite scary. Granda had 2 hip replacements and couldn't run.

Swarms really aren't scary ...

He got dozens
of stings, but as he rarely used his protective gear and got stung
regularly
he was ok. Would have killed the ordinary bod.

I doubt it.

My uncle keeps bees on a mountain as he says heather honey is the best.

Heather honey - ling heather that is, is, I consider, the finest honey. It
has special properties and is unlike other honeys.

used to have honey sandwiches with the comb as well. yum.

That's the best way to eat honey because it hasn't lost any flavour or scent
to the air. To have heather honey in the comb, warm from the hive, on fine
bread and good butter is a meal fit for kings.

drool

extraction attracted the bees

It does, they'll flock to the scent of honey. Extraction should always be
carried out in a bee proof room.

and a few would get caught on the plate he
scraped the caps onto. he would eat it bees, legs and all. Used to make
my
friends gag. funny.

They don't eat meat?

:-)

Mary