Melrose is a small abbey town on the River Tweed, at the foot of the three peaks of the Eildon Hills — perhaps the most photographed place in the Scottish Borders. The abbey gardens hold a notable collection of flowering plants, and the Priorwood Garden (National Trust for Scotland) is particularly rich in bee-forage plants grown for its dried-flower tradition. The Tweed at Melrose carries willows and bankside hawthorn; the Eildon Hills above the town carry heather and bilberry from July; and the estate parkland of Dryburgh and Bemersyde downstream add sycamore and lime. Bramble is dense on every wooded hillside.
Collectors attend swarms in the Melrose Abbey grounds and Priorwood Garden borders, along the Tweed willows from Chain Bridge to Leaderfoot viaduct, in the stone garden walls and chimney stacks of the abbey town houses, and on the heather and gorse slopes of the Eildon Hills above the town.
Nearest BBKA-affiliated associations to help with swarm collection and local advice.
NE65 9QH· approx. 74 km
Visit websiteCA6 4HN· approx. 75 km
Visit websiteNE46 3NB· approx. 80 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.
