Grantown-on-Spey is an elegant planned Georgian town in Strathspey — a grid of sandstone streets laid out by Sir James Grant in 1765, set in the Cairngorm National Park where the Spey plains meet the birch and heather hills. The town is centrally placed for the great Strathspey heather season: the Dava Moor to the north, the Cromdale Hills to the east and the Cairngorm edge to the south give ling heather from late July through August on the highest ground. The Spey riverside willows, the walled garden of Grant Lodge and the lime-lined town square provide fine urban forage; birch and rowan woodland on the lower slopes carry the shoulder-season months.
Collectors attend swarms along the Spey riverside willows and alder between Grantown and Cromdale, on the Dava Moor ling heather fringe to the north, in the Grant Lodge walled garden and town-square lime trees, in the chimney stacks and sandstone eaves of the Georgian and Victorian properties of High Street and Forest Road, and in the estate outbuildings of the Strathspey river valley.
Nearest BBKA-affiliated associations to help with swarm collection and local advice.
NE65 9QH· approx. 258 km
Visit websiteCA6 4HN· approx. 268 km
Visit websiteNE46 3NB· approx. 278 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.
