Llanfihangel Crucorney is a small village at the foot of the Skirrid — Holy Mountain — on the northern edge of Monmouthshire, where the vale of Ewyas opens towards Abergavenny. The village is best known for the Skirrid Mountain Inn, claimed to be among the oldest inns in Wales, and for its position as the gateway to the Black Mountains and the remote Llanthony valley. The hedged hay meadows and old orchards of the Gavenny valley give local bees an outstanding early-summer forage; hawthorn, blackthorn and wild cherry line every field boundary. Bilberry and heather contribute from the Skirrid and the Hatterall ridge above. Bramble is dense on the valley sides. The Gwent Beekeepers' Association covers the area.
Local collectors respond to swarms in the old orchard and hedged pasture margins around the village, in the mature garden trees and ivy-covered stone walls of the properties near the church and the Skirrid Inn, along the Gavenny stream willows and alder carr, and in chimney stacks and eaves of the old farmhouses and cottages on the road to Llanthony.
Nearest BBKA-affiliated associations to help with swarm collection and local advice.
NP7 9DY· approx. 13 km
Visit websiteHR29PA· approx. 19 km
Visit websiteHR1 2NG· approx. 27 km
Visit websiteAssociation data sourced from the British Beekeepers Association directory via SwarmBase.
Blackthorn and hawthorn on red-soil hedges open the year, followed by sycamore and horse chestnut. The Wye Valley woods — Wyndcliff, Tintern, Wentwood — give a lime and sweet-chestnut June crop. Bramble is dense; the Black Mountains edge contributes bilberry and late ling heather. Apple orchards around the Monnow give a minor but useful pollination flow. A strong late ivy flow on red-sandstone stone walls and church towers closes the year.
More on beekeeping in MonmouthshireReport it in under a minute and a trained local beekeeper will arrange safe collection.
