Whitehead is a Victorian seaside town at the entrance to Belfast Lough, sheltered at the base of the basalt cliffs of the Antrim coast road between Carrickfergus and Larne. The seafront gardens and the wooded hillside above the town carry mature sycamore, lime and rowan; gorse covers the rough basalt headlands to the north. The gardens of the substantial Victorian villas on the seafront and upper town provide a varied flow from March to October. The mild sea-facing aspect extends the season at both ends, and ivy on the basalt-stone walls and older buildings closes the year late into autumn. The Gobbins cliff path to the north of the town passes through an area of coastline notable for sea-thrift and wild thyme on the cliff-top grassland.
Collectors regularly attend swarms in the Victorian and Edwardian gardens of the seafront and upper town, on the gorse-covered basalt headlands above the shoreline, in the sycamore and rowan of the wooded hillside above the seafront, and in the stone outbuildings and older properties on the coastal road toward Islandmagee.
Nearest BBKA-affiliated associations to help with swarm collection and local advice.
BT26 6NH· approx. 38 km
CA24 3HZ· approx. 141 km
Visit websiteCA13 0AU· approx. 151 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.
