|
Honeybee forage in Scotland for the 5-14 Curriculum
 Back to the Education Home Page
Forage - the Scottish Countryside
Scotland's countryside is rich and diverse, and is quite unique. From the gentle rolling border hills in the south through the flatter fertile central lowlands of the midland valley, to the rugged mountains ranges of the highlands and the moorlands and tors of Caithness in the far north. This gives rise to a range of habitat types including farmlands, woodlands, wetlands, peatlands and grasslands, not forgetting the coastlands and montane areas for which Scotland's scenery is so very famous.
This 'Land of Mountain and Flood' is made up of 30% Lowland, 30% Marginal Upland, and 40% Upland habitat types and is dominated by less fertile moorland and rough pasture often only able to
sustain rough grazing and forestry. In contrast the lowland areas are very fertile and highly productive and provide the vast majority of food production, commercial and industrial opportunities for Scotland. Together they sustain a diversity of flora and fauna which equals only the remarkably wide range of habitat types found.
Click here for a 'Broad Habitat - Scotland' document
Forage Opportunities Honeybees rely on flowers for pollen and nectar so essential for sustaining life in their busy colonies. During the season they must collect, feed, convert and store these products to ensure sufficient food supplies for themselves, for their grubs, for yet to fly young bees, and to store for use when conditions don't allow forage flights such as bad weather and winter months.
A crucial time for honeybees is the early spring when pollen and nectar are needed to promote egg laying and growth in the colony after a period of winter torpidity. This is a limiting factor in honeybee natural history, and plays a large part in defining their distribution across the country. A good start provided by early spring blossom is essential for full colony growth by the start of the summer season and honey production. Good forage must also be sustained throughout the rest of the season and for this reason feral colonies are generally found where there are reliable sources of forage all year round. Managed colonies are successfully kept by beekeepers in less favourable areas by artificialy feeding when natural forage is unavailable.
Honeybees are particularly reliant on certain varieties of flowers at different times of the year. Although not exclusive, what follows are some of the more favoured varieties:
Nectar Sources
Pollen Sources
These are just a few of the plants utilised by honeybees. There are many other wild and commercial varieties, and the role played by our garden flowers cannot be overlooked either, they are all potential sources of pollen and nectar and of great importance to honeybees and to beekeeping.
The variable nature of the Scottish weather and our diverse countryside results in an equally
variable Scottish honey crop. Production of a regular and uniform supply of
honey products as demanded by the wholesale food industry is almost impossible.
However with careful management and planning it is possible to maintain healthy and productive honeybee colonies even in some of the the most remote area of Scotland.
Scottish Beekeepers naturally argue that the quality of their honey is such that the wholesale food industry would never do it justice. As
a result, much of the best quality 'home grown' product is sold through
specialist and local food outlets, and directly by the beekeepers themselves. Recent press on the health benefits of consuming local honey products to aid wound and illness recovery, and to relieve allergy sufferers has increased the demand considerably.
Back to the Education Home Page
If you can't find the information you need here, try the forum
|
