Dingwall is the county town of Ross-shire — a compact market town at the head of the Cromarty Firth, the ancient burgh giving it a long history as the commercial centre of the Easter Ross lowlands. The Cromarty Firth coastline carries sea-aster and coastal herb; the farmland of the Black Isle across the firth and the rich arable plain of the Conon valley give a solid oilseed rape and white-clover early flow. The River Peffery and Conon riverside willows and elder extend the season; the heather moors of the Strathpeffer uplands immediately to the west become productive from late July. Lime trees in the town's older streets and the Ross-shire Auction Mart grounds provide urban forage.
Collectors attend swarms along the Peffery and Conon riverside willows and hawthorn hedges, on the Strathpeffer hill heather fringe to the west, on the Cromarty Firth sea-aster shore margins, in the older sandstone market-town properties and garden walls of High Street and Tulloch Street, and in the outbuildings and eaves of the Ross-shire estate and farm properties of the lower Conon valley.
Nearest BBKA-affiliated associations to help with swarm collection and local advice.
NE65 9QH· approx. 308 km
Visit websiteCA6 4HN· approx. 308 km
Visit websiteNE46 3NB· approx. 325 km
Visit websiteAssociation data sourced from the British Beekeepers Association directory via SwarmBase.
The season arrives late — gorse and broom on the Moray coast and sycamore in sheltered valleys begin May. Raspberry (cultivated and wild) on Easter Ross gives a substantial early flow. The Highland defining crop is ling heather on the huge moors of the central, eastern and western Highlands — the finest UK heather honey with a distinct red-amber set and jelly texture, still commercially worked. Bell heather, bilberry and upland herbs supplement. Coastal sea-thrift and ivy on lochside cottages close a short, high-quality year.
More on beekeeping in HighlandReport it in under a minute and a trained local beekeeper will arrange safe collection.
