Elvington is a village on the River Derwent south-east of York, best known for its wartime airfield — now home to the Yorkshire Air Museum — and its medieval bridge over the Derwent. The Derwent valley here carries extensive riverside meadows and willow woodland; oilseed rape on the Vale of York plain surrounds the village to north and west, producing a strong April flow. The airfield margins carry rough grassland and scrub managed as a wildlife habitat, with bramble and willowherb giving summer forage.
Collectors attend swarms in the riverside willows and alder along the Derwent, in the hawthorn and bramble on the airfield-boundary scrub, in the churchyard lime, and in the older farm buildings and garden trees of the village.
Nearest BBKA-affiliated associations to help with swarm collection and local advice.
YO19 5UF· approx. 5 km
Visit websiteYO8 9AN· approx. 17 km
Visit websiteLS25 6HH· approx. 17 km
Visit websiteAssociation data sourced from the British Beekeepers Association directory via SwarmBase.
Oilseed rape on the Vale of York arable fields around Dunnington, Poppleton and Skelton opens the season from early April. Hawthorn is dense on the field-boundary hedgerows all around the city fringe. York city centre is defined by its lime flow in June — Museum Gardens, Dean's Park, the Knavesmire lime avenue and the Victorian residential streets of Bishopthorpe Road and Bootham all contribute. Bramble is prolific on the railway embankment and Strensall Common edges; willowherb and himalayan balsam follow on the Ouse riverside. Bell heather on Strensall Common gives a modest but genuine late-July supplement. Ivy on the City Walls, churchyard walls and older suburban gardens closes the year.
More on beekeeping in City of YorkReport it in under a minute and a trained local beekeeper will arrange safe collection.
