Wendover is a small market town at the foot of the Chiltern scarp in central Buckinghamshire, where the chalk downland and ancient beechwoods of the Chiltern AONB slope steeply above the Vale of Aylesbury. The Ridgeway national trail passes on the hilltop, Wendover Woods crown the scarp above the town, and the derelict Wendover Arm of the Grand Union Canal adds wetland willow and watermeadow margin to the bee forage. Local bees work a rich chalk landscape — sainfoin, bird's-foot trefoil and kidney vetch on the downland, beechwood ground flora in spring, bramble across the woodland rides and hedgerow lime on the vale-side lanes. The Aylesbury Vale BKA serves the area.
Collectors attend swarms in the beechwood margins and chalk grassland of the Chiltern scarp above Coombe Hill and Bacombe Hill, along the derelict Wendover Arm towpath willows and watermeadow margins, in the old orchard remnants and lime trees of the High Street and Aylesbury Road conservation area, and in the chimney stacks and eaves of the older brick-and-flint Chiltern cottages and Georgian market-town terraces.
Nearest BBKA-affiliated associations to help with swarm collection and local advice.
HP22 5TE· approx. 5 km
Visit websiteHP11 1BJ· approx. 15 km
Visit websiteHP9 2XG· approx. 18 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.
More on beekeeping in BuckinghamshireReport it in under a minute and a trained local beekeeper will arrange safe collection.
