Andover is a market town on the River Anton in the open chalk downland of north-west Hampshire, close to the Wiltshire border. The Test Valley to the south and the chalk grassland of the Harewood Forest to the north provide excellent spring forage — oilseed rape, hawthorn and sainfoin — and the watermeadow margins of the Anton in the town carry willowherb and water-mint well into late summer. The Andover BKA maintains an active local swarm collection network.
Collectors regularly attend swarms in the garden trees of the Hatherden and Charlton districts, in the old chalk-and-flint boundary walls of the town centre and the Guildhall area, in the hedgerow lanes towards Abbotts Ann and Upper Clatford, and in the roof cavities of the older properties on Newbury Street and Bridge Street.
Nearest BBKA-affiliated associations to help with swarm collection and local advice.
SP10 3JH· approx. 1 km
Visit websiteSO21 1BQ· approx. 21 km
Visit websiteRG14 1AY· approx. 24 km
Visit websiteAssociation data sourced from the British Beekeepers Association directory via SwarmBase.
The season opens on oilseed rape across the downs north of Winchester, followed by hawthorn, sycamore and field maple in the hedgerow-rich chalk country. Early summer brings the famous lime flow through Romsey, Alresford and the avenues of Southampton Common, with bramble and white clover carrying hives through July. Late summer belongs to the New Forest — ling and bell heather on the open commons give a thick, amber-tending-black crop, and rosebay willowherb flushes every disturbed ride. Ivy on old boundary oaks finishes the year.
More on beekeeping in HampshireReport it in under a minute and a trained local beekeeper will arrange safe collection.
