Argyll and Bute · Swarm collection

Bee swarm in Arrochar? Help is a minute away.

Arrochar is a village at the head of Loch Long on the A83, sitting in the shadow of the Arrochar Alps and forming the main approach to Ben Arthur — The Cobbler — and the other peaks of the Arrochar group. The village looks west across the loch towards Ardgartan forest, and heather moorland rises steeply from the shoreline to the summit ridges on every side. Sycamore and birch woodland cloaks the lower glen above the village, giving way to gorse and broom on the drier rocky slopes and then to heather on the high ground from late July. The old road north through Glen Croe carries the remaining farm land in the glen, with white clover on the improved pasture strips and elder in the dyke-sides.

Postcodes we cover
G83
Where swarms appear in Arrochar

Typical swarm locations

Collectors attend swarms in the sycamore and birch woodland scrub above the village, on the lochside gorse and broom fringe between Arrochar and Ardgartan, in the garden hedges and outbuildings of the older village properties along the waterfront, along the Loch Long shoreline elder and hawthorn scrub, and in roof voids and stone wall cavities of the hotel and village properties.

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Beekeeping associations near Arrochar

Nearest BBKA-affiliated associations to help with swarm collection and local advice.

  • Carlisle Beekeepers

    CA6 4HN· approx. 178 km

    Visit website
  • Cockermouth Beekeepers

    CA13 0AU· approx. 192 km

  • Whitehaven Beekeepers

    CA24 3HZ· approx. 201 km

    Visit website

Association data sourced from the British Beekeepers Association directory via SwarmBase.

Forage in Argyll and Bute

Heather is the defining flow of Argyll — Calluna vulgaris covers the hills, glens and island moors from late July into September, offering one of the longest heather seasons in Scotland. Gorse and broom flower in two flushes — April and again in late summer — on every rocky coastal headland and glen-side. Sycamore is the principal woodland forage tree, prolific in the sheltered sea-loch valleys and estate policies from late April. Bramble is abundant on the lower ground and forest clearings from July. White clover grows on the improved coastal grassland of the Kintyre plain, the Isle of Bute and the Oban hinterland. Cross-leaved heath in the wetter blanket bogs supplements the main heather flow on the islands.

More on beekeeping in Argyll and Bute
Nearby towns

Swarm help in neighbouring towns

Seen a swarm in Arrochar?

Report it in under a minute and a trained local beekeeper will arrange safe collection.