Bee swarm in Pathhead? Help is a minute away.

Pathhead is a quiet village on the south-facing slope above the Tyne Water valley, on the eastern edge of Midlothian near the East Lothian boundary, in an agricultural landscape of mixed arable and pasture on the Lothian plain. The Tyne Water below the village carries hawthorn and elder scrub in a sheltered valley corridor; the surrounding farmland carries oilseed rape in April-May and white clover on the improved pastures through June and July — a productive forage sequence characteristic of this part of Midlothian. The moorland edge toward Falahill to the south carries gorse and heather on the rising ground; the Roman road of Dere Street passes through the farmland to the east.

Oilseed rape on the Midlothian arable plain between Dalkeith, Pathhead and the East Lothian boundary provides a powerful April-May flow that is one of the most reliable in the Lothians. White clover on the improved pastures of the Esk valley floor and the amenity grasslands of the Midlothian towns is the main mid-summer crop from June through July. Sycamore is the dominant May flow tree throughout the council area, with the best sources in the North Esk gorge woodlands at Roslin Glen and Lasswade. Hawthorn on the valley hedgerows and the Midlothian lane margins provides a complementary May blossom flow. Himalayan balsam is establishing in the lower Esk corridors near Dalkeith. Bramble is dense on former colliery and mining reclamation sites throughout the area. The Pentland Hills above Penicuik and the Moorfoot Hills above Gorebridge carry heather and bilberry from late July — modest but accessible upland heather ground within the council area. Ivy closes the foraging year on Dalkeith Palace estate walls and the older stone buildings of the Esk valley villages in October.