Ballymena is the principal market town of mid-Antrim, set in the Six Mile Water valley in the heart of County Antrim's farming country — an agricultural service town with a strong Presbyterian heritage and long-established livestock and produce markets. The Six Mile Water's willows and bankside hawthorn run through the town; the productive farmland of the Braid valley and the Antrim plateau above the town is whitethorn-hedged pasture and arable ground with a strong May–June flow. The Antrim Hills to the east carry bell and ling heather from late July, and the Glens of Antrim above Glenariff and Cushendall contribute a distinctive late heather honey. Native Irish honey bees are widely kept across the mid-Antrim area.
Collectors attend swarms along the Six Mile Water willows through the town, in the whitethorn hedgerows on the Braid valley farm lanes toward Broughshane and Glenravel, in the hawthorn and gorse scrub on the lower Antrim Hills above the town, and in the eaves and stone walls of the older residential streets near the town centre.
Nearest BBKA-affiliated associations to help with swarm collection and local advice.
BT26 6NH· approx. 50 km
CA24 3HZ· approx. 179 km
Visit websiteCA13 0AU· approx. 188 km
Association data sourced from the British Beekeepers Association directory via SwarmBase.
Blackthorn and whitethorn on deep field hedges open the year. Sycamore is the backbone of May; hawthorn follows hard. Lime lines Belfast and Ballymena streets. The Glens of Antrim contribute bell and ling heather on the high moors between Cushendall and Glenariff, a late summer crop still commercially worked. Bilberry in basalt scree hills, bramble in every sheltered townland, and a long ivy flow on white-rendered cottage walls close the year.
More on beekeeping in County AntrimReport it in under a minute and a trained local beekeeper will arrange safe collection.
