Bee swarm in Alloa? Help is a minute away.

Alloa is the county town of Clackmannanshire, sitting on a broad loop of the River Forth where the Ochil Hills begin their steep ascent to the north. The town was a significant glass and brewing centre in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and its Victorian park and riverside walks still carry the sycamore and lime avenues planted in that era. The Forth floodplain immediately south of Alloa carries oilseed rape from April, and the Ochil slopes above Sauchie give access to hillside heather ground in late summer. The Black Devon flows west of the town through scrub and old orchard fragments that provide important early forage.

Oilseed rape on the Forth Carse between Alloa, Tullibody and the Stirling boundary is the dominant April-to-May flow, one of the most reliable in central Scotland, and sets fast so requires prompt extraction. White clover follows on the improved lowland pastures and the amenity grasslands of the Alloa park network from June through July. Sycamore on the Devon and Black Devon valley margins and in the Ochil village gardens drives the May gap flow. Hawthorn is prolific on the lower hillside hedgerows and the field boundaries of the Carse. The Ochil Hills above Alva, Tillicoultry and Dollar carry extensive heather moorland from mid-July through September; the steep access tracks allow colonies to be moved up for a late-season heather crop. Bramble on former industrial sites around Alloa and on the Ochil lower slopes extends the summer forage into August. Himalayan balsam is establishing along the Devon Water corridor. Ivy on the older sandstone buildings of Alloa and Clackmannan closes the calendar in October.