Inverurie is the principal market town of the Garioch — the rich arable plain of central Aberdeenshire where the Don and Urie rivers meet. Set in some of the most productive oilseed rape country in Scotland, Inverurie is surrounded by the defining early flow of Aberdeenshire beekeeping: vast rape acreages on the Garioch plain opening from late April, followed by hawthorn and sycamore on the estate hedgerows, field-bean and clover, and the lime trees of the town's older residential streets. The Bass of Inverurie, an ancient motte, and the War Memorial Garden give urban forage; the Don valley willows and wet meadow margins at Kintore and Kemnay add a riverside dimension to the summer season.
Collectors attend swarms in the oilseed rape field-margins and hedgerows of the Garioch plain, along the River Don willows and alder margins between Inverurie and Kintore, in the walled gardens and stone outbuildings of the older properties on Port Elphinstone Road and the town centre, and in the eaves and chimneys of the sandstone terraces.
Nearest BBKA-affiliated associations to help with swarm collection and local advice.
NE65 9QH· approx. 227 km
Visit websiteNE12 8EH· approx. 256 km
Visit websiteNE46 3NB· approx. 257 km
Visit websiteAssociation data sourced from the British Beekeepers Association directory via SwarmBase.
Oilseed rape on the vast arable belt around Inverurie, Turriff and Ellon is the defining early flow — Scotland's single biggest rape region. Hawthorn and sycamore carry the post-rape period; lime lights Aberdeen's granite streets in June. The heather of Royal Deeside, the Ladder Hills and the Cabrach gives one of the finest and most commercially worked heather honey flows in Britain. Bilberry and hill forage add; a short but real ivy flow on the granite villages finishes the year.
More on beekeeping in AberdeenshireReport it in under a minute and a trained local beekeeper will arrange safe collection.
