Burntisland is a historic Forth port — a compact stone town with a sandy beach below the Binn Hill, the ancient circular church of St Columba (dating to 1592) and the refinery chimney stack a landmark on the Firth. The Binn Hill above the town is a substantial area of rough grassland, gorse and scrub with heather on the upper slope, giving bees an unusual combination of coastal and moorland forage within walking distance of the town centre. The Forth shore carries sea-aster from July; the hawthorn and elder of the Kinghorn Loch area to the east provide a sheltered woodland margin. Oilseed rape on the Burntisland hinterland farmland gives the best early flow in this part of Fife.
Collectors attend swarms on the Binn Hill gorse and heather margins above the town, along the Forth shore sea-aster and coastal scrub, in the oilseed rape field margins of the farmland east toward Kinghorn, in the stone garden walls and church grounds of the older St Columba Street and Kirkgate properties, and in the chimney stacks and eaves of the Victorian seafront and beach terraces.
Nearest BBKA-affiliated associations to help with swarm collection and local advice.
CA6 4HN· approx. 125 km
Visit websiteNE65 9QH· approx. 130 km
Visit websiteNE46 3NB· approx. 140 km
Visit websiteAssociation data sourced from the British Beekeepers Association directory via SwarmBase.
Oilseed rape is the defining early Fife flow across the central plain. Raspberry canes on the Howe of Fife add an unusual early-summer crop. Sycamore and lime carry May into June in St Andrews, Kirkcaldy, Dunfermline and Cupar. The Lomond Hills and parts of the north Fife moors give bell and ling heather. Coastal sea-aster and samphire along the East Neuk add seasoning; ivy on old fisher-town gables closes the year.
More on beekeeping in FifeReport it in under a minute and a trained local beekeeper will arrange safe collection.
