Bee swarm collection in North Lanarkshire

Sycamore is the dominant May flow tree across North Lanarkshire, most productive in the residential streets and country parks of the Clyde plain. White clover on the improved amenity grasslands and the agricultural fields of the Kelvin and Calder valleys peaks in June and July. The Forth and Clyde Canal corridor through Kilsyth carries himalayan balsam from late July; bramble is prolific on the former steelworks and colliery reclamation sites throughout Motherwell, Coatbridge and Bellshill. Drumpellier Country Park near Coatbridge and Strathclyde Country Park near Motherwell provide sheltered lime and hawthorn parkland forage. The Campsie Fells above Kilsyth carry heather and bilberry from late July into September — accessible heather ground for North Lanarkshire beekeepers willing to make a short journey up the hill. Gorse is dense on the moorland fringe above Kilsyth and Cumbernauld; ivy closes the calendar in October in the older town centres.

Lanarkshire Beekeepers' Association serves both North and South Lanarkshire and is affiliated to the Scottish Beekeepers' Association. Members in the northern part of the council area benefit from the proximity of the Campsie Fells heather ground above Kilsyth, while those on the Clyde plain at Motherwell and Bellshill work a classic urban-fringe calendar of sycamore and white clover.