Wick is the historic herring-fishing capital of Caithness — a compact stone town at the mouth of the Wick River on the east Caithness coast, with the Pultneytown heritage distillery district and the dramatic cliff scenery of Noss Head to the north. The Wick River valley provides a sheltered hawthorn and elder corridor into the surrounding farmland; white clover on the flat Caithness arable plain is the backbone of the summer flow. The ling heather of the Hill of Yarrows and the Flow Country gives the county's characteristic late crop; sea-aster and sea-campion on the dramatic coastal cliffs at Noss Head and the Whaligoe Steps add a coastal dimension. The season is short but the heather flow is reliable and distinctive.
Collectors attend swarms in the Wick River valley hawthorn and elder margins, in the white-clover margins of the Caithness farmland south-west of the town, on the Noss Head coastal scrub and clifftop heather, in the sandstone garden walls and chimney stacks of the Pultneytown and Bridge Street conservation area, and on the ling moor fringe south toward Loch Watten.
Nearest BBKA-affiliated associations to help with swarm collection and local advice.
NE65 9QH· approx. 362 km
Visit websiteCA6 4HN· approx. 389 km
Visit websiteNE46 3NB· approx. 390 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.
