March is a fenland market town on the Nene in the heart of the Cambridgeshire Fens, surrounded by the flat, dark-peat arable land of the Middle Level drainage system. The Cambridgeshire BKA covers the town, and the surrounding landscape — the oilseed rape and field beans of the rich peat fen soils, the dyke-side willowherb and loosestrife margins of the Middle Level drains, the Nene riverside willows and reed-bed margins and the old walled gardens of the town centre — gives local bees one of the most productive arable-fen forage landscapes in England.
Collectors regularly attend swarms in the older garden remnants and lime trees of the High Street and Broad Street conservation areas, along the Nene and Well Creek riverside willows and dyke-side margins at Rings End and Upwell, on the Middle Level drain banks between March and Nordelph, and in the chimney stacks and eaves of the older fenland market-town properties.
Nearest BBKA-affiliated associations to help with swarm collection and local advice.
PE7 3BN· approx. 22 km
Visit websitePE30 5DQ· approx. 30 km
Visit websitePE9 4HZ· approx. 40 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.
More on beekeeping in CambridgeshireReport it in under a minute and a trained local beekeeper will arrange safe collection.
