Randalstown is a market town on the Six Mile Water where it begins to broaden toward Lough Neagh, sheltered in a wooded valley below the drumlin farmland of mid-Antrim. The river corridor through the town is lined with mature willows and bankside hawthorn; Shane's Castle demesne to the north-east of the town, one of the largest private estates in Ulster, carries ancient oak woodland, ornamental lime and chestnut that provide exceptional May and June flows. The surrounding farmland is a close-hedged patchwork of whitethorn and blackthorn typical of mid-Antrim, and white clover on the riverside meadows and rough grazing gives a reliable mid-summer nectar source. Native Irish honey bees are the standard working stock throughout this part of the county.
Collectors attend swarms along the Six Mile Water willows through the town, in the hawthorn and elder scrub of the riverbanks toward Toomebridge, on the old stone walls and outbuildings in the agricultural lanes south toward Moneyglass, and in the lime and sycamore of the residential streets nearest the town centre.
Nearest BBKA-affiliated associations to help with swarm collection and local advice.
BT26 6NH· approx. 40 km
CA24 3HZ· approx. 179 km
Visit websiteCA13 0AU· approx. 189 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.
