Dover is a port town beneath the famous white cliffs, with the chalk grassland of the Western Heights and the North Downs behind providing some of the most botanically rich bee forage in Kent — horseshoe vetch, kidney vetch, rock-rose and marjoram crowd the exposed chalk above the town, and the Lydden and Temple Ewell Downs nature reserves within a few miles add to the picture. The Dover & District BKA covers the whole of the east Kent chalk.
Collectors here regularly attend swarms on the chalk scrub and garden boundaries of the Western Heights, in the mature garden trees and old brick walls of the Maison Dieu and Priory Hill areas, in the ivy-covered old fortification earthworks above the town, and in the chimney stacks and slate roofs of the dock-era Victorian terraces of the town centre.
Nearest BBKA-affiliated associations to help with swarm collection and local advice.
CT15 4AD· approx. 8 km
Visit websiteCT4 5DY· approx. 20 km
Visit websiteCT12 4HQ· approx. 23 km
Visit websiteAssociation data sourced from the British Beekeepers Association directory via SwarmBase.
Few places open as explosively as Kent. Cherry, apple, pear and plum in the orchards of Faversham, Tenterden and the Medway bring an intense early flow, followed closely by oilseed rape on the North Downs dip slopes. Lime and sweet chestnut carry hives through June, particularly in the coppiced woods of the Weald. Late summer is often dominated by fireweed on the chalk pits and disturbed ground, with a strong and valuable ivy flow across the coastal plain from Deal to Whitstable. Hops, though decorative for bees, add to the mosaic.
More on beekeeping in KentReport it in under a minute and a trained local beekeeper will arrange safe collection.
