Bee swarm in Ardglass? Help is a minute away.

Ardglass is a small fishing port and coastal village on the south-eastern tip of County Down, where a cluster of medieval tower houses — Jordan's Castle, Horn Castle, Cowd Castle and Isabella's Tower — give the harbour one of the most distinctive medieval skylines of any Irish fishing village. The harbour is still active as a working port for nephrops and herring, and the village sits on a limestone drumlin peninsula overlooking the Irish Sea toward the Isle of Man. The Killard Point National Nature Reserve, two kilometres north of the village, protects one of the finest limestone grassland habitats in Northern Ireland — dense kidney vetch, bird's-foot trefoil, thyme and wild carrot provide exceptional pollen and nectar forage through June and July. Cliff-top gorse and whitethorn on the coastal drumlins around Ardglass and Killough provide the spring blossom flow; the agricultural Lecale plain inland carries white clover on the improved pastures through midsummer. Bramble and blackthorn on the coastal scrub extend the season well into August.

Blackthorn on drumlin hedges opens the year; sycamore is the dominant May flow. Hawthorn is abundant. Lime in Newtownards, Bangor and Downpatrick gives a strong June crop. The Mourne Mountains carry ling and bell heather — a genuinely distinctive Mournes heather honey. Bramble is dense; coastal sea-aster on Strangford Lough adds character; himalayan balsam on the Lagan gives a long late flow. Ivy on whitewashed cottage walls closes a long, mild year.