Carrickfergus is a historic castle town on the northern shore of Belfast Lough, where the remarkably intact Norman castle has guarded the sea approach to the Lagan valley since the twelfth century. The castle gardens and the Andrew Jackson Cottage grounds give local urban forage; the Belfast Lough shoreline scrub and the Woodburn forest above the town add coastal and woodland wildflowers. Whitethorn hedgerows are thick on the drumlin farm lanes inland; sycamore and lime line the older residential streets of the town; and bramble covers the hedgebanks above the shore. The mild lough-side position means a long season from early spring blackthorn through to October ivy on the old castle and town walls.
Collectors attend swarms in the Carrickfergus Castle grounds and Marine Gardens borders, along the Belfast Lough shoreline hawthorn and coastal scrub, in the whitethorn hedgerows on the inland drumlin farm lanes toward Whitehead, in the Woodburn forest margins above the town, and in the garden walls and eaves of the older properties on North Street and Joymount.
Nearest BBKA-affiliated associations to help with swarm collection and local advice.
BT26 6NH· approx. 32 km
CA24 3HZ· approx. 147 km
Visit websiteCA13 0AU· approx. 157 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.
