Muir of Ord is a Black Isle gateway village and traditional livestock market town at the south end of the Black Isle peninsula, where the Beauly Firth narrows toward Inverness. The Glen Ord (Glenordie) Single Malt Distillery, one of the oldest in the region, anchors the town's character. The Black Isle to the north is some of the best arable and horticultural land in the Highlands, carrying oilseed rape and field beans in a substantial spring flow; hawthorn and sycamore follow on the estate-lined lanes. The Beauly Firth foreshore carries sea-aster and brackish marsh herbs; the Tarradale woodland and the River Beauly riverside willows provide summer riverside forage. The moors of the Aird and the Beauly valley sides carry heather within easy range of hive sites on the peninsula margin.
Collectors here attend swarms along the River Beauly and Tarradale riverside willows and alder, in the Muir of Ord mart and estate farm outbuildings, on the Black Isle arable field margins north toward Redcastle and Tore, in the older estate-cottage and Victorian residential properties of the village, and on the Beauly Firth shoreline scrub and sea-aster meadow at the firth edge.
Nearest BBKA-affiliated associations to help with swarm collection and local advice.
CA6 4HN· approx. 301 km
Visit websiteNE65 9QH· approx. 302 km
Visit websiteNE46 3NB· approx. 319 km
Visit websiteAssociation data sourced from the British Beekeepers Association directory via SwarmBase.
The season arrives late — gorse and broom on the Moray coast and sycamore in sheltered valleys begin May. Raspberry (cultivated and wild) on Easter Ross gives a substantial early flow. The Highland defining crop is ling heather on the huge moors of the central, eastern and western Highlands — the finest UK heather honey with a distinct red-amber set and jelly texture, still commercially worked. Bell heather, bilberry and upland herbs supplement. Coastal sea-thrift and ivy on lochside cottages close a short, high-quality year.
More on beekeeping in HighlandReport it in under a minute and a trained local beekeeper will arrange safe collection.
