St Budeaux is a waterfront district in north-west Plymouth above the Tamar estuary, with the Royal Albert Bridge and the Brunel railway viaduct framing its riverside setting. The Tamar estuary bank and the old orchards on the Victoria Road ridge carry hawthorn, elder and apple blossom giving a May flow; bramble and willowherb are dense on the railway embankment scrub above the Tamar; gorse thickens on the open ground above the Royal Albert Bridge approach and on the western edge of the Ernesettle common. The Tamar creek-side woodland below St Budeaux Square adds ash and wild cherry in the valley bottom.
Collectors in PL5 attend swarms in the Tamar estuary bank hawthorn and elder scrub below the Royal Albert Bridge, in the orchard and hedge gardens in the streets around Victoria Road and Wolseley Road, in the railway embankment bramble and gorse above the Tamar, and in the eaves and chimney stacks of the mid-twentieth-century semi-detached and terrace housing throughout St Budeaux village.
Nearest BBKA-affiliated associations to help with swarm collection and local advice.
PL1 2AA· approx. 4 km
Visit websitePL17 8AX· approx. 15 km
Visit websitePL19 9DA· approx. 16 km
Visit websiteAssociation data sourced from the British Beekeepers Association directory via SwarmBase.
Gorse on the Dartmoor edge at Roborough Down and the Plympton Hill fringe opens the season in February and March. Blackthorn and hawthorn on the Plym and Tamar valley hedgerows follow; apple blossom in the Plympton and Tamerton Foliot orchard remnants adds to the May flow. Sycamore and lime in Central Park, the Hoe gardens and Devonport Park give a reliable June city flow. Bramble is dense on the old military estate scrub at the Efford and Plymstock fringes; willowherb on the estuary embankments carries through August. The Tamar and Tavy creek-side woodland at Warleigh carries ash, hazel and wild cherry. Coastal ivy on the Sound-facing cliff gardens and the dockyard walls closes the year.
More on beekeeping in City of PlymouthReport it in under a minute and a trained local beekeeper will arrange safe collection.
