Sandwich is one of the original Cinque Ports and one of the best-preserved medieval towns in England, its circuit of flint walls enclosing a largely intact street pattern of the thirteenth century. The Stour estuary marshes and reed beds to the north, the Sandwich Bay estate saltmarsh and coastal scrub, and the agricultural land of the Thanet peninsula behind the town give local honey bees a varied season running from early sycamore through sea lavender and bramble to a strong late ivy flow on the ancient walls.
Collectors are regularly called to swarms in the ancient flint wall crevices and the riverbank willows along the Stour, in the chimney stacks and medieval timber-framed roof voids on The Strand and Strand Street, in the walled gardens of the larger town-house properties, and in the rough coastal scrub and sea buckthorn on the Sandwich Bay estate.
Nearest BBKA-affiliated associations to help with swarm collection and local advice.
CT12 4HQ· approx. 7 km
Visit websiteCT15 4AD· approx. 10 km
Visit websiteCT4 5DY· approx. 15 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.
