Hampstead sits on the highest ground in inner London, its Victorian villas and artists' cottages backing onto the 320 hectares of Hampstead Heath — the capital's most botanically rich public open space. The Heath's ancient oaks, the lime and sweet chestnut of Kenwood grounds, the willow-fringed ponds and the bramble on the Parliament Hill slopes give local honey bees a season that begins on the Heath's blackthorn in March and ends on the ivy of the old walls in November.
Collectors in Hampstead regularly attend swarms in the boundary oaks and lime trees of Hampstead Heath and Kenwood, in the large walled gardens of the Georgian and Victorian streets above the Heath, in the chimney pots of the older Belsize Park and Frognal terraces, and in the ivy-covered walls of the older churchyards at St John's and the Holly Bush.
Nearest BBKA-affiliated associations to help with swarm collection and local advice.
N6 4JU· approx. 2 km
Visit websiteSE1 7JU· approx. 8 km
Visit websiteN14 5BH· approx. 9 km
Visit websiteAssociation data sourced from the British Beekeepers Association directory via SwarmBase.
The capital opens early on crocus in the parks, then builds on blackthorn, cherry plum and Japanese cherry through March and April. The defining London flow is lime — avenues of common, small-leaved and silver lime line central streets from Regents Park to Bermondsey, producing the distinctively pale, mineral London honey of June. Bramble and rosebay willowherb fill brownfield sites and railway embankments, and a huge secondary ivy flow carries hives deep into autumn on Victorian cemeteries and garden boundaries.
More on beekeeping in Greater LondonReport it in under a minute and a trained local beekeeper will arrange safe collection.
