Corstorphine is an ancient village absorbed into Edinburgh's west, sitting below the wooded volcanic ridge of Corstorphine Hill — 160 acres of mixed woodland managed as a nature reserve, with gorse, broom and bilberry on the upper slopes and a dense understorey of elder and hawthorn below. Edinburgh Zoo occupies the southern slopes of the hill, and the mature specimen trees of the zoo grounds add to the forage available to bees working outwards from the village's substantial walled gardens and lime-lined streets. Sycamore and hawthorn are the backbone of the season; late bramble on the hill scrub and ivy on the old kirk walls carry the year out.
Collectors attend swarms on Corstorphine Hill woodland margins and the gorse scrub of the upper nature reserve, in the mature walled gardens of St John's Road and Kirk Loan, in the zoo boundary planting, and in the chimney stacks and eaves of the older village properties and 1930s semi-detacheds of the suburb.
Nearest BBKA-affiliated associations to help with swarm collection and local advice.
CA6 4HN· approx. 113 km
Visit websiteNE65 9QH· approx. 124 km
Visit websiteNE46 3NB· approx. 131 km
Visit websiteAssociation data sourced from the British Beekeepers Association directory via SwarmBase.
Spring comes later than southern England but catches up quickly on horse chestnut and sycamore in the Meadows, Inverleith Park and Holyrood. The lime avenues of the New Town produce a classic pale, mineral June flow; Blackford Hill, Arthur's Seat and the Pentlands add gorse and broom. Bramble and rosebay willowherb are heavy on every disused railway and quarry corridor. Coastal sea-aster and sea-pink on the Forth shore at Cramond, and a strong ivy flow on Old Town walls, close a surprisingly long urban season.
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