County Durham · Swarm collection

Bee swarm in Bishop Auckland? Help is a minute away.

Bishop Auckland sits at the meeting of the Wear and Gaunless — a former mining town now regenerating around the restored Auckland Castle. Its surrounds blend pit-village terraces, farmland hedges and the parkland lime and sycamore of the Bishop's deer park, giving bees a varied mid-Durham season.

Postcodes we cover
DL14
Where swarms appear in Bishop Auckland

Typical swarm locations

Swarms are regularly reported on the stone walls and hedgerows of the castle parkland, on terraced eaves in Cockton Hill and on allotment sheds throughout Wear Valley villages. Collectors here are experienced with rural call-outs into the surrounding dales.

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Beekeeping associations near Bishop Auckland

Nearest BBKA-affiliated associations to help with swarm collection and local advice.

Association data sourced from the British Beekeepers Association directory via SwarmBase.

Forage in County Durham

Spring is slow to start. Sycamore and hawthorn carry the early flow; oilseed rape is moderate on the lowland. Lime fills June in Durham, Bishop Auckland and Darlington. The defining late-summer flow is North Pennines heather — Teesdale, Weardale, Edmundbyers — still producing some of the finest ling honey in England. Rosebay willowherb is heavy on ex-colliery land; bilberry on upper moorland adds a supplement. Ivy on cottage walls in the dales closes the year.

More on beekeeping in County Durham
Nearby towns

Swarm help in neighbouring towns

Seen a swarm in Bishop Auckland?

Report it in under a minute and a trained local beekeeper will arrange safe collection.