Ardboe is a lakeside village on the western shore of Lough Neagh in east Tyrone, home to one of the finest early Christian high crosses in Ireland — a tenth-century sandstone cross in the old graveyard above the lough shore. The Lough Neagh shoreline here carries extensive reed-beds, willow carr and damp meadow — a rich riparian forage environment that sustains strong summer colony populations. The improved farmland behind the village carries hawthorn hedges, white clover and patches of meadowsweet in the wetter hollows. The Institute of Northern Ireland Beekeepers serves beekeepers in the east Tyrone Lough Neagh basin.
Collectors attend swarms along the Lough Neagh shore reed-beds and willow carr south of the high cross, in the hawthorn hedges on the farm lanes behind the village, in the garden trees and outbuildings of the lakeshore properties, on the meadowsweet and clover in the wet field margins near the lough shore, and in the stone walls and eaves of the older properties near the graveyard.
Nearest BBKA-affiliated associations to help with swarm collection and local advice.
BT26 6NH· approx. 42 km
CA24 3HZ· approx. 197 km
Visit websiteLL77 7NX· approx. 206 km
Association data sourced from the British Beekeepers Association directory via SwarmBase.
Blackthorn and whitethorn drumlin hedges open the year. Sycamore and hawthorn dominate May. Lime is present in Omagh, Dungannon and Strabane. The Sperrins contribute bell and ling heather in August — a dark, thick crop some Tyrone beekeepers work seriously. Bilberry in the oakwoods adds a June supplement; rosebay willowherb is dense on every disused rail line and stone quarry. Ivy finishes the year on whitewashed cottages.
More on beekeeping in County TyroneReport it in under a minute and a trained local beekeeper will arrange safe collection.
