Kirkby is a post-war new town in north Knowsley on the edge of the West Lancashire plain, where the urban fabric gives way abruptly to arable farmland and country park. The Tower Hill and Peel's Wood corridors, the Kirkby Industrial Estate green edges, and the mixed hedgerow farmland of the Simonswood and Bickerstaffe plateau to the north give local bees a forage that is both urban-scrubby and agricultural — a productive combination in a good year.
Collectors regularly attend swarms in the elder, bramble and buddleia of the Kirkby Industrial Estate green margins, in the hawthorn and field maple hedges of the Simonswood and Tower Hill farmland fringe, in the mature sycamore and lime of the older Westvale and Northwood residential areas, and in the garage roofs and eaves of the 1950s-built council housing throughout the town.
Nearest BBKA-affiliated associations to help with swarm collection and local advice.
WA11 8RG· approx. 10 km
Visit websiteL25 7TE· approx. 12 km
Visit websiteL37 7BS· approx. 15 km
Visit websiteAssociation data sourced from the British Beekeepers Association directory via SwarmBase.
The Sefton Coast sand dunes contribute an unusual assortment of forage — sea holly, restharrow, viper's bugloss, wild thyme — feeding urban bees along the coast. Horse chestnut and sycamore in Sefton Park, Calderstones and Birkenhead Park give the early flow; the lime avenues of south Liverpool and Wallasey carry the main June flow. Bramble blankets the Mersey Forest plantings; rosebay willowherb flushes Everton and Kirkby brownfield. A late coastal sea-buckthorn crop at Formby and Crosby is a known supplementary flow before the ivy closes the year.
More on beekeeping in MerseysideReport it in under a minute and a trained local beekeeper will arrange safe collection.
