Gorebridge is a former mining village in the upper Gore Water valley, where the ground begins to rise toward the moorland of Moorfoot Hills SSSI to the south. The village sits on the transitional zone between the improved Midlothian farmland to the north and the upland moorland fringe to the south — giving apiaries on the village edge access to both the white clover of the lowland fields and the heather and bilberry of the moorland above. The Gore Water carries hawthorn and elder scrub below the village; oilseed rape fields are grown on the lower farmland toward Newtongrange. The Moorfoot Hills provide heather and bilberry from late July for beekeepers willing to move colonies to the upland edge.
Collectors attend swarms on the Moorfoot Hills heather and bilberry moorland south of the village, on the Gore Water hawthorn and elder scrub below the village, on the oilseed rape field margins and hawthorn hedgerows toward Newtongrange, and in the stone eave and chimney cavities of the older properties along Main Street.
Nearest BBKA-affiliated associations to help with swarm collection and local advice.
CA6 4HN· approx. 100 km
Visit websiteNE65 9QH· approx. 106 km
Visit websiteNE46 3NB· approx. 114 km
Visit websiteAssociation data sourced from the British Beekeepers Association directory via SwarmBase.
Oilseed rape on the Midlothian arable plain between Dalkeith, Pathhead and the East Lothian boundary provides a powerful April-May flow that is one of the most reliable in the Lothians. White clover on the improved pastures of the Esk valley floor and the amenity grasslands of the Midlothian towns is the main mid-summer crop from June through July. Sycamore is the dominant May flow tree throughout the council area, with the best sources in the North Esk gorge woodlands at Roslin Glen and Lasswade. Hawthorn on the valley hedgerows and the Midlothian lane margins provides a complementary May blossom flow. Himalayan balsam is establishing in the lower Esk corridors near Dalkeith. Bramble is dense on former colliery and mining reclamation sites throughout the area. The Pentland Hills above Penicuik and the Moorfoot Hills above Gorebridge carry heather and bilberry from late July — modest but accessible upland heather ground within the council area. Ivy closes the foraging year on Dalkeith Palace estate walls and the older stone buildings of the Esk valley villages in October.
More on beekeeping in MidlothianReport it in under a minute and a trained local beekeeper will arrange safe collection.
