Newtownabbey is a large suburban town north of Belfast, spreading across the lower slopes of the Cave Hill and the Carnmoney Hill above the M2 corridor — a post-war expansion town that now holds one of the largest populations in County Antrim. Hazelbank Park and the Lough Shore Park on Belfast Lough give productive urban forage; the Cave Hill Country Park above the town carries hawthorn scrub and heather moorland within a short flight of many Newtownabbey apiaries. Whitethorn is thick in the older farm hedgerows surviving in the suburban green corridors; sycamore and lime line the older residential streets near Glengormley; bramble covers the hillside scrub edges above the Hightown Road.
Collectors attend swarms in the Hazelbank Park and Lough Shore Park lough-side willows and garden borders, on the Cave Hill Country Park hawthorn scrub and heather moorland slopes, in the whitethorn hedgerows surviving in the green corridors around Carnmoney and Glengormley, and in the eaves and garden walls of the older residential properties on the Antrim Road and Ballyclare Road.
Nearest BBKA-affiliated associations to help with swarm collection and local advice.
BT26 6NH· approx. 24 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.
