Hawick is the largest settlement in the Teviot valley — a historic textile and knitwear town on the River Teviot, deep in the southern Borders hills. The riverside willows and alder of the Teviot run through the town; sycamore dominates the older residential streets; and the hawthorn-hedged farm lanes spreading south toward Hobkirk and Bonchester Bridge give a strong May flow. The Teviothead and Cheviots moorland to the south and east carry dense ling heather from late July — arguably the finest heather ground in the Scottish Borders — and bilberry is thick on the hill flanks. Bramble is prolific in every sheltered valley fold.
Collectors attend swarms along the River Teviot willows and alder through the town, in the hawthorn hedgerows on the farm lanes toward Stobs and Bonchester Bridge, in the stone garden walls and chimney stacks of the old town centre and mill-worker terraces, and on the heather and gorse scrub of the hill faces above Hawick.
Nearest BBKA-affiliated associations to help with swarm collection and local advice.
CA6 4HN· approx. 55 km
Visit websiteNE46 3NB· approx. 67 km
Visit websiteNE65 9QH· approx. 71 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.
