Cottenham is a large fenland-edge village north of Cambridge on the flat clay vale between the chalk ridge at Histon and the Ouse Washes to the north, surrounded by intensive arable farming and the historic Cottenham peat-fen landscape. The oilseed rape fields of the clay vale deliver a strong spring flow from late April; white clover on the improved farmland margins follows in June and July; and the waterside willows, meadowsweet and willowherb of Cottenham Lode and the North Cambridge fringe, together with elderflower scrub on the fen-field boundaries, sustain the resident bee population through midsummer.
Collectors in Cottenham regularly attend swarms in the waterside willows and willowherb margins of Cottenham Lode and the surrounding fen-edge drainage dykes, in the older garden fruit trees and privet hedges of the High Street and Rooks Street conservation area, in the elder and hawthorn field margins of the surrounding clay arable fringe towards Rampton and Willingham, and in chimney stacks and eaves of the older red-brick village properties.
Nearest BBKA-affiliated associations to help with swarm collection and local advice.
CB22 4PB· approx. 18 km
Visit websiteCB10 1ES· approx. 30 km
Visit websitePE7 3BN· approx. 38 km
Visit websiteAssociation data sourced from the British Beekeepers Association directory via SwarmBase.
Oilseed rape is the dominant early flow across the Fens; field beans add to the picture in June. Hawthorn, blackthorn and cherry plum fill the farm hedges that still mark every drove road. The lime avenues of Cambridge, Ely and Huntingdon provide a concentrated urban flow, and willow, hemp agrimony and purple loosestrife along the Great Ouse and Cam sustain hives well into July. Late summer brings sainfoin on chalk field margins and a modest heather crop on Thetford Heath gravels on the county edge.
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