Strensall is a village north-east of York on the Fosse Beck, adjacent to Strensall Common, one of the largest areas of lowland heath in Yorkshire. The common carries bell heather and ling that give colonies a late-summer flow from July onward, complemented by the gorse scrub on the heath margins and the hawthorn hedgerows on the surrounding Derwent-plain arable fields. York and District Beekeepers cover YO32 with collectors who know both the heath and the village garden landscape.
Collectors attend swarms on the Strensall Common heather and gorse scrub on the heath margins, in the hawthorn hedgerow oaks on the Sheriff Hutton road and Common Lane field boundaries, on the older brick village-house chimney stacks in the village centre, and in the garden trees and outbuildings near the Barracks Road approach.
Nearest BBKA-affiliated associations to help with swarm collection and local advice.
YO19 5UF· approx. 9 km
Visit websiteYO61 3AG· approx. 13 km
YO17 7HD· approx. 21 km
Association 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.
