Bishop's Waltham is a small historic market town in the Meon Valley, its medieval palace ruins surrounded by water meadows, coppiced hazel woodland and the undulating clay-with-flints farmland of the South Hampshire plateau. The willow carr and flag iris of the millpond and palace grounds, the ancient boundary hedgerows of the lanes towards Swanmore and Upham, and the old orchard and kitchen-garden planting of the town's more established residential streets give local honey bees a sheltered and productive Meon Valley season.
Local collectors attend swarms in the old orchard and garden boundaries around Bank Street and St Peter's Street, in the willow and sallow carr of the palace grounds and millpond margins, in the hedgerow hawthorn and field maple of the lanes towards Curdridge and Swanmore, and in the chimneys and wall cavities of the flint-and-brick cottages of the town's conservation area.
Nearest BBKA-affiliated associations to help with swarm collection and local advice.
SO30 3HA· approx. 8 km
Visit websiteGU32 1JX· approx. 13 km
Visit websitePO14 2PE· approx. 15 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.
