Woburn is a small estate village and historic market town set within the parkland of Woburn Abbey, surrounded by some of the finest old lime, oak and sweet chestnut in Bedfordshire. The Abbey's great lime avenue and the mixed woodland of Woburn Park, combined with the old-growth forest on the Greensand Ridge between Woburn and Milton Keynes, give local bees access to a long, high-quality lime and chestnut flow that peaks in late June.
Collectors regularly attend swarms in the parkland lime and sweet-chestnut trees of Woburn Park, in the mature oaks and beeches of the forest fringe towards Bow Brickhill and Husborne Crawley, in the older garden walls and hedges of the abbey estate village cottages, and in the roof voids and chimney stacks of the Georgian and Victorian houses on Bedford Street and Park Street.
Nearest BBKA-affiliated associations to help with swarm collection and local advice.
MK9 3EP· approx. 10 km
Visit websiteHP22 5TE· approx. 26 km
Visit websiteSG6 1NX· approx. 27 km
Visit websiteAssociation data sourced from the British Beekeepers Association directory via SwarmBase.
Oilseed rape is the dominant early flow across central Beds, supplemented by field beans. The Greensand Ridge brings sweet chestnut and bramble in the woods of Woburn, Aspley and Sandy. Lime lines the Georgian streets of Bedford and the older parts of Ampthill and Leighton Buzzard. Chalk grassland herbs — wild thyme, marjoram, knapweed — are still found on the downland fringe near Dunstable. Rosebay willowherb in the disused brickworks is a minor but characteristic flow; ivy on limestone village walls finishes the year.
More on beekeeping in BedfordshireReport it in under a minute and a trained local beekeeper will arrange safe collection.
