Letham is a planned village between Forfar and Arbroath in the broad Strathmore valley, established in the late eighteenth century as a linen-weaving settlement. The village green and the surrounding agricultural landscape are typical of this part of Strathmore: large arable fields of oilseed rape and barley with hawthorn hedgerow margins, and the occasional estate belt of sycamore and beech providing shelter. Forfar Loch Nature Reserve lies within easy reach to the west, and the village sits within the improved grassland that carries white clover through midsummer.
Collectors handle swarms in the garden hedges and apple trees of the planned village streets, in the hawthorn hedgerows and field margins on the Strathmore farmland surrounding the village, in the sycamore shelter belts at the field boundaries, and in the stone wall and chimney voids of the late eighteenth-century weaving cottages.
Nearest BBKA-affiliated associations to help with swarm collection and local advice.
NE65 9QH· approx. 169 km
Visit websiteCA6 4HN· approx. 190 km
Visit websiteNE46 3NB· approx. 192 km
Visit websiteAssociation data sourced from the British Beekeepers Association directory via SwarmBase.
Oilseed rape is the defining Angus spring flow: the wide floor of Strathmore carries dense April–May sowings from Forfar eastward to Carnoustie, filling supers quickly on settled days. Hawthorn, wild cherry and sycamore follow on the hedgerow field margins and estate woodlands of the inland vale. White clover is abundant on the improved coastal grasslands and golf course turf between Monifieth, Carnoustie and Arbroath through June and July. The coastal clifftops carry bird's-foot trefoil, thrift and wild thyme. On the higher ground of the Angus Glens — above Kirriemuir, Edzell and Brechin — heather starts in late July and carries through to mid-September, offering a productive moor crop for those who move colonies to the hill.
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