Killearn is a handsome village at the foot of the Campsie Fells in the far south of Stirling council area, on the edge of Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park. The Blane Water runs through the village below the main street, lined with mature sycamore and willow; the steep south face of the Campsies above the village carries gorse, bramble and bell heather. The village was the birthplace of George Buchanan, the sixteenth-century scholar and tutor to James VI, and his monument stands near the church. The improved pastures of the Strathblane valley carry white clover through June and July; hawthorn and blackthorn are thick on the estate field margins around the Killearn Hospital grounds. The Endrick Water to the south, draining toward Loch Lomond, adds willows and alder in the lower meadows.
Collectors attend swarms along the Blane Water sycamore and willow margins through the village, in garden trees and stone-wall voids of the older properties on Main Street, in gorse and bracken on the lower Campsie slopes above the village, on the hawthorn and blackthorn hedgerows of the estate lanes toward Balfron, and in the chimney and eave voids of the older whinstone cottages.
Nearest BBKA-affiliated associations to help with swarm collection and local advice.
CA6 4HN· approx. 151 km
Visit websiteCA13 0AU· approx. 167 km
CA24 3HZ· approx. 177 km
Visit websiteAssociation data sourced from the British Beekeepers Association directory via SwarmBase.
Oilseed rape on the Carse of Stirling carries the early flow. Sycamore and hawthorn fill the hedges; the lime avenues of Stirling, Bridge of Allan and Callander provide a classic June crop. Bracken-fringed oakwoods give bilberry; the Trossachs and Ochils contribute bell and ling heather in August. Bramble is dense in the sheltered valleys; ivy on old stone walls closes a long season given the northern latitude.
More on beekeeping in StirlingReport it in under a minute and a trained local beekeeper will arrange safe collection.
