Blairgowrie is the soft-fruit capital of Scotland, a market town on the River Ericht at the foot of the Grampian foothills where raspberry and strawberry growing has been the backbone of the local economy for over a century. Tayside raspberry honey — produced from the white blossom covering the drumlin field systems around Blairgowrie, Coupar Angus and Alyth — is among the most distinctive varietal honeys in Scotland. The Ericht's willows and hawthorn run through the town; oilseed rape provides a strong early flow from late April; and the Grampian moorland above Glenisla and Glenshee transitions into ling heather from late July. Perthshire BKA members work some of Scotland's most productive lowland apiaries here.
Collectors attend swarms in the raspberry field margins and hawthorn hedgerows on the drumlin lanes north of the town, along the River Ericht willows through the town and at Rattray, in the oilseed rape field boundaries on the Coupar Angus road, and in the stone garden walls and eaves of the older residential streets and Hill Street properties.
Nearest BBKA-affiliated associations to help with swarm collection and local advice.
NE65 9QH· approx. 179 km
Visit websiteCA6 4HN· approx. 185 km
Visit websiteNE46 3NB· approx. 196 km
Visit websiteAssociation data sourced from the British Beekeepers Association directory via SwarmBase.
The lower Strath Earn and Strath Tay are productive rape and raspberry country in May and early June — and Tayside raspberry honey is a distinctive and widely admired flow. Sycamore is heavy on estate parkland; lime lines Perth and Crieff streets. The defining late-summer flow is ling heather across the Perthshire glens — Glen Shee, Glen Lyon, Rannoch and Atholl — with long-established commercial apiaries migrating in. Bilberry, rowan and hill herbs supplement; ivy on stone villages finishes the year.
More on beekeeping in Perth and KinrossReport it in under a minute and a trained local beekeeper will arrange safe collection.
