Carnlough is a small fishing village and seaside resort on Carnlough Bay between Glenarm and Waterfoot in the Glens of Antrim, sheltered by the limestone and basalt headlands that define this section of the Antrim Coast Road. The village has a working harbour — one of several on the Glens coast — and its limestone quays and the bridge across the Carnlough River give it a built character that reflects both the quarrying of the limestone behind the village and the coastal fishing tradition. The Antrim Coast Road, constructed in the 1830s as a works-relief project, runs through Carnlough above the sea, and the cliffs and slopes between the road and the shore carry a dense scrub of hawthorn, blackthorn and whin that is among the most accessible coastal scrub forage in the Glens. Glencloy, the valley behind the village, carries the Carnlough River through rough pastoral farmland and remnant oak and ash hedgerow woodland toward the basalt plateau above; heather on the Antrim plateau above 200 metres gives a late July to September upland flow. Sycamore on the village lane trees and in the older residential gardens provides the May flow; hawthorn and whitethorn on the coastal cliffs and Glens hedgerows carry the spring blossom. Bramble on the whin and hawthorn scrub above the coast road extends the season into September; ivy on cottage and farmhouse walls closes the year.
Collectors attend swarms in the older stone and render cottages around the harbour and village centre, on the coastal cliff and coast road hawthorn and whin scrub between Carnlough and Glenarm, in the Glencloy valley farmland and hedgerow woodland above the village, on the Antrim plateau heather fringe above 200 metres, and in the walled gardens and orchard margins of the older residential properties above the bay.
Nearest BBKA-affiliated associations to help with swarm collection and local advice.
BT26 6NH· approx. 61 km
CA24 3HZ· approx. 165 km
Visit websiteCA13 0AU· approx. 172 km
Association data sourced from the British Beekeepers Association directory via SwarmBase.
Blackthorn and whitethorn on deep field hedges open the year. Sycamore is the backbone of May; hawthorn follows hard. Lime lines Belfast and Ballymena streets. The Glens of Antrim contribute bell and ling heather on the high moors between Cushendall and Glenariff, a late summer crop still commercially worked. Bilberry in basalt scree hills, bramble in every sheltered townland, and a long ivy flow on white-rendered cottage walls close the year.
More on beekeeping in County AntrimReport it in under a minute and a trained local beekeeper will arrange safe collection.
