Raunds is a former boot-and-shoe market town on the Nene north-east of Wellingborough, set in the ironstone farmland belt between the Nene and Welland watersheds. The Northamptonshire BKA covers the town, and the surrounding landscape — the Nene riverside willows and ox-bow watermeadow margins at Stanwick Lakes and Woodford Mill, the old ironstone hedgerows and ridge-and-furrow pasture of the east Northamptonshire upland, the mixed arable farmland of the Welland watershed above Ringstead, and the orchard and garden remnants of the Victorian expansion — gives local bees a productive east Northants plateau season.
Collectors regularly attend swarms in the older garden remnants and lime trees of the Market Square and High Street conservation areas, along the Nene riverside willows and watermeadow margins at Stanwick Lakes and Woodford Mill, in the old orchard and allotment remnants of the Victorian boot-trade suburb fringe, and in the chimney stacks and eaves of the older ironstone properties.
Nearest BBKA-affiliated associations to help with swarm collection and local advice.
NN3 7AX· approx. 22 km
Visit websitePE7 3BN· approx. 30 km
Visit websiteMK9 3EP· approx. 36 km
Visit websiteAssociation data sourced from the British Beekeepers Association directory via SwarmBase.
The county opens on a mix of oilseed rape and field beans across the arable belt between Kettering and Daventry. Hawthorn, blackthorn and field maple line the ironstone walls and quickset hedges. The estate woodlands — Rockingham, Salcey, Whittlewood — produce a sweet-chestnut and lime flow in June, particularly in the older planting blocks. Bramble is dense along the Nene Valley; rosebay willowherb flushes the disused quarry and railway land; and ivy in ironstone villages gives a generous late crop.
More on beekeeping in NorthamptonshireReport it in under a minute and a trained local beekeeper will arrange safe collection.
