Scotland · Swarm collection

Bee swarm collection in East Dunbartonshire

East Dunbartonshire is a predominantly suburban and semi-rural council area on the northern edge of Glasgow, stretching from the residential commuter towns of Bearsden and Bishopbriggs at the city's fringe to the Campsie Fells moorland rising dramatically above Lennoxtown and Strathblane in the north. The Glazert Water, Blane Water and Kelvin headwaters drain the Campsie southern slopes through the council area, their valley corridors carrying the richest forage in an otherwise residential landscape. Milngavie, at the start of the West Highland Way, gives access to Mugdock Country Park and Mugdock Loch, a reservoir landscape of willow and birch scrub that is one of the finest bee habitats in the Glasgow fringe.

Forage & honey flows

Sycamore is the dominant May flow tree throughout East Dunbartonshire, lining the suburban streets, school grounds and railway corridors of Bearsden, Bishopbriggs and Kirkintilloch in large numbers. White clover on the amenity grasslands, golf courses and roadside verges of the residential areas is the main mid-summer crop from June through August. Hawthorn on the hedgerows of the Glazert and Blane valleys and on the field boundaries of the agricultural land between Torrance and Lennoxtown provides a sustained May blossom flow. The Campsie Fells above Lennoxtown carry bell heather and cross-leaved heath from late July through September — the most significant upland heather resource within reach of the Glasgow conurbation. Himalayan balsam is colonising the Kelvin and Glazert corridors strongly. Bramble on field margins and in urban green space edges provides a late-summer supplement from July into September. Lime trees in the older residential avenues of Bearsden and Milngavie give a distinctive late-June to early-July nectar flow. Ivy on stone walls and older buildings completes the calendar in October.

Beekeeping character

East Dunbartonshire beekeepers are served by the Glasgow and West of Scotland Beekeepers' Association and the Campsie District Beekeepers, both affiliated to the Scottish Beekeepers' Association. The Campsie Fells are a defining feature of the local beekeeping calendar: apiaries positioned near Lennoxtown and Strathblane can access both the suburban summer forage and the moorland heather in a single season. Mugdock Country Park is used by local beekeepers as an out-apiary site.

Seen a swarm in East Dunbartonshire?

Report it in under a minute and a trained local beekeeper will arrange safe collection.