Heath beekeeping

It involves a transportable, swarming hive in which the beekeeper only allows a small number of colonies to overwinter.

In spring, the number of colonies increases many times through the process of swarming, and several hundred were not unusual.

Because there was not usually enough local forage for the many hives concentrated into one place, the beekeepers had to move the bees around to areas where there were worthwhile sources of nectar.

The new colonies formed in the early spring from swarms, collected honey from the blossoming heathlands in late summer, mainly in August and September.

It declined during the second half of the 19th century for a number of reasons, which led to the retreat of the areas of heathland.