Bee swarm in Penicuik? Help is a minute away.

Penicuik is a former paper-milling town on the North Esk at the foot of the Pentland Hills, where the river drops through a series of shallow gorges before entering the lower Midlothian plain. The North Esk valley above Penicuik carries mature ash, sycamore and hawthorn woodland in a sheltered gorge setting — Penicuik Estate grounds to the north include designed woodland walks with lime, beech and horse chestnut. The Pentland Hills rise immediately to the west, carrying heather, bilberry and gorse on the upper moorland that gives Penicuik beekeepers the most accessible heather ground in Midlothian. White clover on the improved pastures of the Esk valley floor is strong through June and July; oilseed rape on the lower Midlothian plain carries to within a few miles of the town.

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.