Lyme Regis is a seaside town on the Jurassic Coast at the western edge of Dorset, famous for its fossil-bearing cliffs, the curving Cobb harbour wall, and the landslip undercliff to the east that forms one of the most biodiverse nature reserves in southern England. The Spittles and Black Ven landslip creates a warm, scrubby habitat of bramble, ivy, sea buckthorn, alexanders and wild cabbage that is highly productive for bees — East Devon Beekeepers serves this coastal corner. The town's steep lanes and cottage gardens add lime, buddleia and garden herbs to the forage palette through summer.
Swarms in Lyme Regis settle on the ancient stone walls and hawthorn scrub of the landslip paths, on the mature buddleia and elder in the gardens on the cliffside streets, in the chimney stacks of the older townhouses behind the Cobb, and on the rocky outcrops along the coastal path towards Charmouth.
Nearest BBKA-affiliated associations to help with swarm collection and local advice.
EX13 5RJ· approx. 8 km
Visit websiteDT6 3PL· approx. 13 km
Visit websiteTA13 5HD· approx. 28 km
Visit websiteAssociation data sourced from the British Beekeepers Association directory via SwarmBase.
The chalk downs around Blandford and Shaftesbury bring hawthorn, field maple and a modest oilseed rape flow. The Dorset heath country — Studland, Arne, the Purbeck basin — gives an unusually long heather season (bell heather from late June, then ling) combined with the gorse bloom on the sandy soils. Lime lines the market towns; bramble is dense on the old commons. The late coastal ivy flow on Portland and the cliffs of Lulworth carries hives into autumn.
More on beekeeping in DorsetReport it in under a minute and a trained local beekeeper will arrange safe collection.
