Hitchin is a large market town on the River Hiz, surrounded by the chalk arable and managed grassland of north Hertfordshire. The town is perhaps best known beyond beekeeping circles for its lavender fields — the Hitchin lavender farms at Cadwell are among the most productive in the country and attract a remarkable number of honey bees in July and August — while the Hiz valley meadows, the old churchyard limes and the hedged farmland towards Pirton add forage across a long season.
Collectors in Hitchin regularly attend swarms in the lime and plane trees of Bancroft Gardens and the town-centre churchyard, in the garden hedgerows of Bearton Green and Walsworth, in the chimney stacks of the older flint-faced and brick terraces, and in hedgerow oaks on the chalk farmland fringe towards Offley and Ickleford.
Nearest BBKA-affiliated associations to help with swarm collection and local advice.
SG6 1NX· approx. 5 km
Visit websiteAL7 3TT· approx. 17 km
Visit websiteSG13 7DR· approx. 22 km
Visit websiteAssociation data sourced from the British Beekeepers Association directory via SwarmBase.
The chalk uplands of the north — around Baldock, Royston and Letchworth — give oilseed rape, sainfoin and a solid hawthorn flow. The southern clay country leans on sycamore, horse chestnut and field maple, with the limes of Hertford, Harpenden and St Albans producing a classic June crop. Ashridge, Tring Park and the Chilterns edge add beech forage. Bramble on the commons and rosebay willowherb along the Lee Valley corridor carry midsummer. Ivy closes a long, productive year.
More on beekeeping in HertfordshireReport it in under a minute and a trained local beekeeper will arrange safe collection.
