Clackmannanshire · Swarm collection

Bee swarm in Dollar? Help is a minute away.

Dollar is the most easterly of the Hillfoot villages and one of the most distinctive small towns in central Scotland, its academy and Georgian main street set against the backdrop of Castle Campbell on its crag above Dollar Glen. The glen — a National Trust for Scotland property — is a spectacular woodland gorge cut by the Dollar Burn and the Burn of Sorrow, carrying ancient oak, ash and sycamore that provide exceptional early forage. The Devon Water runs along the south side of town; the Ochil plateau above the castle carries bell heather and cross-leaved heath from July through September, and apiaries on the upper hillside can work both valley forage and moorland bloom in a single season.

Postcodes we cover
FK14
Where swarms appear in Dollar

Typical swarm locations

Collectors attend swarms in the Dollar Glen gorge woodland — particularly the sycamore and ash canopy on the steep sides of the burn — in the mature garden trees of the Academy grounds and the Church Street properties, on the Devon Water bankside scrub south of the town, and in the stone dykes and gorse patches on the lower Ochil slopes above the castle.

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Beekeeping associations near Dollar

Nearest BBKA-affiliated associations to help with swarm collection and local advice.

Association data sourced from the British Beekeepers Association directory via SwarmBase.

Forage in Clackmannanshire

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.

More on beekeeping in Clackmannanshire
Nearby towns

Swarm help in neighbouring towns

Seen a swarm in Dollar?

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