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Heather

 

 

Yes, heather is about to bloom, two-wings such as butterflies and bees visited the flowers in Leidisoo despite the weather - and the weather will return to summery again.

 

In a way it is a harbinger of summer’s end when forested bogs, moorlands and heath forests turn heather-coloured – marvellously beautiful to watch. Usually enterprising beekeepers will bring their hives already in July to collect heather honey, and in a favourable year the harvest of one bee colony can be up to 40 kilos of honey. Around such migratory bee colonies in sparse heath forests you can without exaggeration hear a „deafening hum“ on beautiful days. Heather honey tastes a little bitter, which is a delicacy for us but does not suit the bees themselves as winter food.

 

Looking at the habitats of heather it seems that it is a tolerant plant but it needs sunshine, and can in such an environment crowd out other plants – in shadowy habitats it yields to competitors and fades away.

 

The heather plant is well adapted to dry conditions; studying its small, scale-like leaves it can be guessed that from there not a drop of water will be let out from there in vain.

 

Forested bog at the shore of Nigula lake