Typical swarm locations
Collectors here are called to swarms in the gorse and hawthorn scrub on the ridge above the village, in the orchard trees of the lower slopes, and in the churchyard and older farmhouse eaves along the village lane.
Tickenham is a village on the southern flanks of Tickenham Ridge, the limestone escarpment between Clevedon and Nailsea, looking out over the North Somerset Levels to the Severn estuary. The ridge carries gorse and blackthorn scrub that opens the season early, and the village lanes are lined with mature hawthorn hedgerows; orchards in the village and on the lower slopes supplement the spring flow with apple and pear blossom. The ridge also provides a vantage point from which beekeepers can observe swarming activity in the surrounding countryside.
Collectors here are called to swarms in the gorse and hawthorn scrub on the ridge above the village, in the orchard trees of the lower slopes, and in the churchyard and older farmhouse eaves along the village lane.
Nearest BBKA-affiliated associations to help with swarm collection and local advice.
BS40 5DU· approx. 8 km
Visit websiteBS24 7AY· approx. 12 km
Visit websiteBS1 4QS· approx. 13 km
Visit websiteAssociation data sourced from the British Beekeepers Association directory via SwarmBase.
Oilseed rape is grown extensively on the North Somerset Levels plain between Weston, Yatton and Congresbury, producing a strong April to May flow that fills supers quickly and requires timely extraction. Hawthorn is dense on the Mendip foothills hedgerows around Churchill, Winscombe and Banwell, and the Tickenham Ridge and Kewstoke Hill carry blackthorn and gorse for the earliest spring forage. Lime trees line the Victorian esplanade gardens of Weston-super-Mare and the older residential streets of Clevedon and Portishead, giving a reliable June town-centre flow. The orchard gardens of Long Ashton, Backwell and Nailsea carry traditional apple, pear and plum blossom in May. Bramble is prolific on the Mendip scarp scrub and on the regenerating scrub of old rhyne banks; white clover on the improved moor grassland and rhyne margins carries through July. Sea-buckthorn and coastal grassland at Sand Bay, Weston Sands and Clevedon Marine Lake provide a late-summer coastal supplement. Ivy on old limestone walls and the cliff-face gardens at Clevedon and Portishead closes the forage year in October.
More on beekeeping in North SomersetReport it in under a minute and a trained local beekeeper will arrange safe collection.