Bee swarm collection in East Sussex

The early flow starts on blackthorn and wild cherry, before hawthorn lights the hedges of the Weald. Late May to July carries the colonies on sweet chestnut around Heathfield, bramble across every common and hedge bank, and — most characteristically — heather on Ashdown Forest from late July into August, giving the dark, jelly-like Ash Down heather honey some members still cut-comb for show. Ivy closes the year on sheltered sandstone lanes and the tall old churchyards of Rye, Lewes and Battle.

East Sussex beekeeping is organised around the Brighton & Lewes, Eastbourne, Wealden and Rye BKAs, with a strong cohort of working heather beekeepers who still migrate colonies onto Ashdown in late July. Most swarm calls in the county come from Downland bungalow gardens, the timber-framed cottages of the Weald, and the coastal strip between Eastbourne and Hastings.