Great Missenden is a village and small town in the valley of the Misbourne, one of the most enclosed and wooded of the Chiltern chalk valleys. The beech hangers that line the valley sides above the A413 — and the ancient Grim's Ditch earthwork on the ridge beyond Ballinger — give local bees access to Chiltern beech honeydew in good years, supplemented by the hawthorn, field maple and cherry of the mixed scrub on the valley slopes and the hay meadow and clover of the village fringe farms.
Collectors regularly attend swarms in the mature garden trees of the High Street and Church Lane conservation area, along the scrubby valley-slope margins towards Prestwood and Little Missenden, in the beech hangers above Mobwell and South Heath, and in the chimney stacks and eaves of the older flint and brick farmhouses and cottages dotted through the valley bottom.
Nearest BBKA-affiliated associations to help with swarm collection and local advice.
HP11 1BJ· approx. 9 km
Visit websiteHP22 5TE· approx. 11 km
Visit websiteHP9 2XG· approx. 12 km
Visit websiteAssociation data sourced from the British Beekeepers Association directory via SwarmBase.
The Chiltern beech hangers produce an unusual honeydew flow some years; lime, field maple and sweet chestnut are the more reliable June flows through Marlow, High Wycombe, Amersham and Chalfont. In the Vale, oilseed rape dominates the spring and field beans support early June. Bramble is dense on the commons; rosebay willowherb fills every beech-clearing on the scarp. A strong late ivy flow runs across the flint-walled villages and ancient churchyards of the scarp foot.
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