Clackmannanshire · Swarm collection

Bee swarm in Coalsnaughton? Help is a minute away.

Coalsnaughton is a small village at the foot of the Ochil Hills between Tillicoultry and Dollar, sitting on the lower slopes of the escarpment above the Devon Water valley. It was a modest mining settlement and its terraced cottages and field-margin gardens back directly onto the steepening hillside, where improved pasture gives way to gorse scrub and the heather moorland of the Ochil plateau. The Devon Water flows within easy flight range to the south through a sheltered corridor of hawthorn, alder and sycamore; the Ochils above carry bell heather from mid-July, giving apiaries on the upper garden ground access to both valley forage and a modest late-summer heather flow.

Postcodes we cover
FK13
Where swarms appear in Coalsnaughton

Typical swarm locations

Collectors attend swarms in the garden sycamore and ash of the older cottages at the village centre, on the gorse and broom patches of the Ochil hillside above the Devonway path east of the village, along the Devon Water bankside hawthorn and alder on the flood plain below, and in the dry-stone dykes and stone outbuildings on the field boundaries between the village and the escarpment.

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Beekeeping associations near Coalsnaughton

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

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

Forage in Clackmannanshire

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.

More on beekeeping in Clackmannanshire
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Seen a swarm in Coalsnaughton?

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