Belleek is a small pottery village on the River Erne where it exits Lower Lough Erne and crosses into County Donegal, close to the border with the Republic. The river margins here carry dense willow carr, reed beds and tall stands of purple loosestrife and hemp agrimony that provide strong summer forage. The limestone wildflower meadows on the nearby lough islands support wild thyme and marjoram through July and August. Hawthorn and blackthorn in the surrounding drumlin hedges peak in May. The old walls of Belleek Pottery and the village's stone buildings carry heavy ivy, sustaining bees well into October when most other forage has faded.
Swarms are most often reported around the riverside willows and alder below Belleek Pottery, on the ivy-clad stone walls along Main Street and the pottery grounds, in the hawthorn hedges along the Ballyshannon Road, and in the scrubby willow and reed-bed margins along the Erne upstream towards Lough Erne.
Nearest BBKA-affiliated associations to help with swarm collection and local advice.
BT26 6NH· approx. 137 km
LL77 7NX· approx. 283 km
CA24 3HZ· approx. 294 km
Visit websiteAssociation data sourced from the British Beekeepers Association directory via SwarmBase.
Blackthorn and hawthorn on limestone hedges open the year; sycamore fills May. Lime in Enniskillen gives a strong June flow. Bramble is dense; the lough islands' limestone grassland contributes wild thyme, marjoram and knapweed. Hemp agrimony and purple loosestrife along the Erne and its tributaries carry a long late-summer flow. A modest ling heather crop on the Cuilcagh uplands, and ivy on old lakeside cottages, close a long mild year.
More on beekeeping in County FermanaghReport it in under a minute and a trained local beekeeper will arrange safe collection.
