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Skewen is a hillside village between Neath and Swansea, set on the south-facing slope above the Neath Valley where the coastal plain begins. Its position gives access to both the valley-floor forage of the lower Neath corridor and the open farmland and scrub of the plateau above; hawthorn hedges on the field boundary lanes above the village are productive in spring, and white clover on the gentler slopes around Llandarcy is abundant from June. The former Llandarcy oil refinery site to the east has been largely reclaimed and now carries rough grassland and scrub. The West Glamorgan BKA and the Swansea and District BKA both cover this transitional area.

Sycamore dominates the valley sides throughout the borough, delivering a generous May flow in every settled community from Briton Ferry to Glynneath. Hawthorn and blackthorn on the valley-side hedgerows and upland field margins follow through late April and May. White clover is abundant on valley-floor parks, sports grounds and the coastal amenity grassland around Swansea Bay; bramble is exceptionally heavy on reclaimed colliery and industrial land throughout the valley floors. The lime avenues of Margam Country Park provide a distinctive July flow; Margam's veteran chestnut and oak supplement through spring. Bilberry and ling heather on the Mynydd y Gwair and the upper Dulais and Neath Valley plateaux offer a late-summer supplement for colonies on the valley rim. Alder and willow along the Nedd, Dulais and Afan corridors contribute early pollen; the Kenfig sand dune system brings sea buckthorn and dune-slack flora within reach of coastal apiaries.