Maidstone is the county town of Kent, set in the Medway valley amid some of the richest orchard and hop country in England. The cherry, apple and pear orchards of the surrounding parishes have supported commercial beekeeping for centuries, and the town itself — with its All Saints Church lime trees, Mote Park and the Medway towpath willows — provides a long urban flow on top of the agricultural landscape. The Mid Kent BKA covers the town and wider Maidstone area.
Collectors here regularly attend swarms in the orchard boundary hedges and oast-house gardens of the villages between Maidstone and Faversham, in the mature garden trees and park limes of the Bearsted and Detling suburbs, along the willows and alders of the Medway floodplain at Allington and Teston, and in the chimney stacks and tile-hung roofs of the older town-centre properties.
Nearest BBKA-affiliated associations to help with swarm collection and local advice.
ME18 6EX· approx. 9 km
Visit websiteME17 1NQ· approx. 12 km
Visit websiteDA12 3AL· approx. 17 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.
