Raglan is a small market village in central Monmouthshire, dominated by its spectacular late-medieval castle ruins — one of the finest in Wales. The village sits in a quiet agricultural landscape of hedgerow pasture, ancient orchards and mixed woodland, with the Great Tower of Raglan Castle providing a natural swarm-observation point for the surrounding country. The hedgerow-rich lanes between Raglan, Usk and Abergavenny carry one of the best hawthorn and elderflower flows in the county, and the Gwent Beekeepers' Association has members farming hereabouts.
Collectors handle swarms in the mature trees and walled grounds of Raglan Castle, in the older stone and render properties of the village itself, in the farm buildings and outbuildings of the surrounding agricultural landscape, and in the hedgerow oaks and hawthorns along the lanes towards Abergavenny and Usk.
Nearest BBKA-affiliated associations to help with swarm collection and local advice.
NP7 9DY· approx. 7 km
Visit websiteGL15 6BS· approx. 21 km
Visit websiteBS32 4PG· approx. 28 km
Visit websiteAssociation data sourced from the British Beekeepers Association directory via SwarmBase.
Blackthorn and hawthorn on red-soil hedges open the year, followed by sycamore and horse chestnut. The Wye Valley woods — Wyndcliff, Tintern, Wentwood — give a lime and sweet-chestnut June crop. Bramble is dense; the Black Mountains edge contributes bilberry and late ling heather. Apple orchards around the Monnow give a minor but useful pollination flow. A strong late ivy flow on red-sandstone stone walls and church towers closes the year.
More on beekeeping in MonmouthshireReport it in under a minute and a trained local beekeeper will arrange safe collection.
