Tarbert is the main village of Harris, set at the narrow neck of land where the sea lochs of East Loch Tarbert and West Loch Tarbert almost cut Harris into two — the spectacular rocky north Harris hills above the village are some of the most rugged terrain in Scotland. The village is a CalMac ferry port for the service to Uig on Skye and Lochmaddy on North Uist. Harris is divided between the rocky, peat-covered interior of north Harris and the fertile machair and sandy bays of the southern Bays area; beekeeping around Tarbert draws on the heather moorland and loch-side gorse of the hills above the village.
Collectors attend swarms on the gorse and heather of the hillside above Tarbert village on the North Harris slopes, on the shore vegetation and elder scrub along East and West Loch Tarbert, in the garden trees and hedge enclosures of the older properties along the main road through the village, and in the croft enclosures and stone dykes on the slopes between Tarbert and the surrounding settlements of Aird a' Mhulaidh and Ardhasaig.
Nearest BBKA-affiliated associations to help with swarm collection and local advice.
BT26 6NH· approx. 387 km
CA6 4HN· approx. 404 km
Visit websiteCA13 0AU· approx. 418 km
Association data sourced from the British Beekeepers Association directory via SwarmBase.
Machair — the distinctive shell-sand grassland of the Atlantic coast — is the most celebrated forage environment of the Western Isles, supporting wild thyme, clover, bird's-foot trefoil, ragged robin and corn marigold in summer on North and South Uist and western Benbecula. White clover and red clover on improved croft grassland provide the main June-to-August flow across all the islands. Heather on the Lewis and Harris moorland — one of the largest continuous heather blankets in Britain — is the defining late-season flow, running from late July through September; bell heather predominates on the drier ground. Sycamore in the Lews Castle grounds and town parks around Stornoway provides a productive May flow in the only sizeable urban forage zone. Gorse is abundant on the roadsides and rough ground of Lewis and Harris from March into June. Bramble flowers on disturbed ground and roadsides throughout the islands from July into September. Ivy on older stone buildings and walls closes the season in October for colonies in more sheltered positions.
More on beekeeping in Na h-Eileanan SiarReport it in under a minute and a trained local beekeeper will arrange safe collection.
