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Linlithgow is a royal burgh and historic county town on the south shore of Linlithgow Loch, where the ruined Linlithgow Palace — birthplace of Mary Queen of Scots — sits above the water in a parkland setting of lime, sycamore and horse chestnut. The loch and its surrounding wetland reed margins provide an unusual combination of aquatic and parkland forage; the Union Canal runs immediately below the town, its towpath carrying hawthorn, elder and himalayan balsam along the water line. The agricultural land between Linlithgow and Bathgate to the south carries strong oilseed rape and white clover flows; the Union Canal embankment carries late-summer balsam into September. Linlithgow's older stone buildings and rooflines provide reliable cavity-nesting sites.

Oilseed rape is the defining spring flow in West Lothian — the arable fields between Linlithgow, Bathgate and the Forth shore carry a powerful April-to-May bloom that fills supers quickly. White clover on the improved lowland pastures is the main mid-summer crop from June through July; it is particularly strong on the Livingston amenity grasslands and the Almond valley floor. Sycamore is the dominant May flow tree on road margins, estate plantings and river valley woodlands throughout the council area. The Union Canal towpath carries himalayan balsam from late July through September; bramble is prolific on former shale bing reclamation sites at Broxburn, Winchburgh and Armadale. The Bathgate Hills SSSI provides heather and bilberry moorland for apiaries on the higher ground — a modest but real late-summer upland supplement. Hawthorn on the field hedgerows between Linlithgow and Bathgate provides a reliable May blossom flow; ivy closes the calendar on older stone buildings in October.