Belfast is the capital city of Northern Ireland — a Victorian industrial city on the Lagan at the head of Belfast Lough, transformed in recent decades into a cultural and tourism hub. The Botanic Gardens, with their Victorian Palm House and Tropical Ravine, and the grounds of Queen's University give a rich urban forage base from April; the Lagan towpath willows and alder run from the city quays to Lagan Valley Regional Park. Lime avenues line the Malone and Stranmillis residential streets; hawthorn is thick in the Cave Hill and Black Mountain scrub above the city; and sycamore is the dominant tree on the old terrace streets of North Belfast. The Institute of NI Beekeepers and the Native Irish Honey Bee Society both have active members in the city.
Collectors attend swarms in the Botanic Gardens and Queen's University grounds, along the Lagan towpath willows from the Waterfront to Stranmillis, in the lime trees of the Malone and Stranmillis avenues, in the hawthorn scrub on the Cave Hill and Black Mountain slopes, and in the chimney stacks and eaves of the older North and West Belfast terraces.
Nearest BBKA-affiliated associations to help with swarm collection and local advice.
BT26 6NH· approx. 17 km
CA24 3HZ· approx. 154 km
Visit websiteCA13 0AU· approx. 165 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.
