Derrygonnelly is a small village on the south-western shore of Lower Lough Erne, where the flat loughside farmland gives way to the rising limestone karst of Cuilcagh Mountain. The Marble Arch Caves system lies a few miles south, carved through the Cuilcagh plateau. Above the cave resurgences, the upland carries modest ling heather and gorse on blanket bog, while the limestone grassland below supports wild thyme and marjoram through summer. The lough shore has willow carr and reed-bed margins with hemp agrimony and purple loosestrife. Hawthorn and blackthorn in the lowland drumlin hedges peak in May, and ivy on the old stone walls carries bees into autumn.
Swarms around Derrygonnelly are often spotted in the willows along the Erne lough shore north of the village, in the hawthorn hedges on the Enniskillen Road, on ivy-covered walls near the village hall and church, and in the gorse and scrub on the lower limestone slopes leading south towards the Marble Arch Caves.
Nearest BBKA-affiliated associations to help with swarm collection and local advice.
BT26 6NH· approx. 119 km
LL77 7NX· approx. 263 km
CA24 3HZ· approx. 276 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.
