Royal Tunbridge Wells is a large spa town on the High Weald sandstone, with the ancient Pembury Woods, Tudeley Woods RSPB reserve and the sweet-chestnut coppice of the surrounding Weald giving local bees one of the richest mid-season flows in Kent. The lime and sycamore of the town's Georgian terraces and The Pantiles provide a reliable June town flow, and the bramble and heather on the common heathlands carry colonies well into August. The Sevenoaks and Tonbridge Wells BKA covers the area.
Collectors are regularly called to swarms in the old walled gardens and lime trees of the Calverley Park and Nevill Park conservation areas, in the sweet-chestnut coppice and birch scrub margins of Pembury and Southborough Commons, in the garden trees of the older residential districts of Mount Ephraim and St John's, and in the chimney stacks and mansard roofs of the Victorian terraces near the town centre.
Nearest BBKA-affiliated associations to help with swarm collection and local advice.
TN10 4LL· approx. 9 km
Visit websiteTN6 3LJ· approx. 10 km
Visit websiteTN17 1JB· approx. 14 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.
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