Bee swarm in Alva? Help is a minute away.

Alva sits at the foot of the Ochil Hills between Tillicoultry and Menstrie, its former textile industry replaced by light industrial and residential land uses but its setting against the dramatic Ochil escarpment unchanged. The Silver Glen above the town is the most spectacular of the Hillfoot ravines, its waterfall and woodland gorge accessible from the town centre. The Ochil plateau above Silver Glen carries extensive heather moorland and is a well-used late-summer beekeeping resource. The Devon Water flows south of town; oilseed rape on the Carse fields below Alva provides the main April-May flow.

Oilseed rape on the Forth Carse between Alloa, Tullibody and the Stirling boundary is the dominant April-to-May flow, one of the most reliable in central Scotland, and sets fast so requires prompt extraction. White clover follows on the improved lowland pastures and the amenity grasslands of the Alloa park network from June through July. Sycamore on the Devon and Black Devon valley margins and in the Ochil village gardens drives the May gap flow. Hawthorn is prolific on the lower hillside hedgerows and the field boundaries of the Carse. The Ochil Hills above Alva, Tillicoultry and Dollar carry extensive heather moorland from mid-July through September; the steep access tracks allow colonies to be moved up for a late-season heather crop. Bramble on former industrial sites around Alloa and on the Ochil lower slopes extends the summer forage into August. Himalayan balsam is establishing along the Devon Water corridor. Ivy on the older sandstone buildings of Alloa and Clackmannan closes the calendar in October.