Moneymore is a Plantation town built by the Drapers' Company in the early seventeenth century, retaining its characteristic wide tree-lined main street and formal estate village layout at the foot of the Sperrins. The lower Sperrins foothills surrounding the town rise through improved pasture to heather moorland within a few miles — giving local beekeepers access to both productive farmland flows and upland heather from a single base. The Ballinderry River drains the gentle slopes south-west of the town and is bordered by willow and alder. Hawthorn and blackthorn hedgerows on the drumlin lanes between Moneymore, Draperstown and Cookstown are prolific in May; sycamore and lime planted along the estate streets provide the late-May and June town flow. Ivy on the old stone buildings and estate walls closes the calendar in October.
Collectors attend swarms on the tree-lined main street lime and sycamore, along the Ballinderry River willows on the south-western margins, in the hawthorn hedgerows on the drumlin farm lanes toward Draperstown and Cookstown, at the estate gardens and orchard remnants on the outskirts of the town, and in the eaves and roof voids of older stone properties along the plantation street.
Nearest BBKA-affiliated associations to help with swarm collection and local advice.
BT26 6NH· approx. 56 km
CA24 3HZ· approx. 202 km
Visit websiteCA13 0AU· approx. 212 km
Association data sourced from the British Beekeepers Association directory via SwarmBase.
Coastal gorse on the north coast carries an early flow. Blackthorn, hawthorn and sycamore fill May. Lime dominates June in Derry, Coleraine and Limavady. The Sperrins contribute bell and ling heather from late July. The Roe and Bann valleys bring himalayan balsam into a strong late-summer flow; coastal sea-thrift and sea-aster at Magilligan add seasoning; ivy closes a long year on whitewashed cottage walls.
More on beekeeping in County LondonderryReport it in under a minute and a trained local beekeeper will arrange safe collection.
