Duns is the administrative centre of Berwickshire, a market town on the northern edge of the Lammermuir Hills where the hill ground rolls down to the productive arable Merse of Berwickshire. Oilseed rape is widely grown on the Merse — one of the most productive arable landscapes in Scotland — giving a strong April–May flow; hawthorn is thick in the Merse field hedgerows. The Duns Castle Nature Reserve on the western edge of town protects ancient woodland and parkland with sycamore, lime and oak. The Lammermuir Hills immediately south carry ling heather from late July, and the Hen Poo loch adds wetland willows and reed margins.
Collectors attend swarms in the Duns Castle Nature Reserve ancient woodland and loch margins, in the oilseed rape field-boundary hedgerows on the Merse lanes south of the town, in the stone garden walls and eaves of the town square and residential streets, and on the heather and bilberry ground of the lower Lammermuir Hills above Duns.
Nearest BBKA-affiliated associations to help with swarm collection and local advice.
NE65 9QH· approx. 69 km
Visit websiteNE46 3NB· approx. 91 km
Visit websiteNE12 8EH· approx. 97 km
Visit websiteAssociation data sourced from the British Beekeepers Association directory via SwarmBase.
Spring is late; hawthorn and sycamore carry May. Oilseed rape is grown in moderation. The defining flow is ling heather on the Cheviots and Lammermuirs from late July — dark, set, among the best hill heather in the UK. Bilberry in moorland-fringe oakwoods, white clover in hay meadows, bramble in sheltered valleys, and a short autumn ivy flow on stone cottage walls round out a short year.
More on beekeeping in Scottish BordersReport it in under a minute and a trained local beekeeper will arrange safe collection.
