Clackmannanshire · Swarm collection

Bee swarm in Tillicoultry? Help is a minute away.

Tillicoultry is one of the Hillfoot villages strung along the southern escarpment of the Ochil Hills, a former woollen-mill town whose Mill Glen cleaves sharply into the hills above the main street, offering dramatic access to heather and bilberry moorland within a short walk of the town centre. The Devon Water flows along the eastern edge of town; sycamore and ash on the Devon margins provide the principal May flow. The lower Ochil slopes above the town are well-vegetated with gorse, broom and heather, and apiaries positioned on the hillside above the A91 can reach both the arable Carse below and the upland heather above.

Postcodes we cover
FK13
Where swarms appear in Tillicoultry

Typical swarm locations

Collectors attend swarms in the Mill Glen gorge sycamore and rowan, on the Devon Water bankside vegetation east of town, in the old stone mill buildings and garden walls of Dollar Road and the town centre, and on the lower Ochil gorse above the Devonway path — a reliable gathering point for swarms leaving hillside apiaries in early summer.

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Beekeeping associations near Tillicoultry

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 Tillicoultry?

Report it in under a minute and a trained local beekeeper will arrange safe collection.