Abingdon is the oldest continuously inhabited town in England, its medieval market square and the Thames waterfront giving local beekeepers a long-settled beekeeping community to draw on. The Thames water meadows at Rye Farm and Sutton Courtenay, the hedged market-garden fields of the Vale of White Horse and the oilseed rape of the clay farmland towards Didcot carry local colonies from April through September, with the old town's lime and sycamore streets adding a classic market-town June flow.
Collectors in Abingdon regularly attend swarms in the lime and sycamore trees of the town centre and Abbey Grounds, along the Thames towpath between Abingdon Bridge and Culham, in the garden hedgerows of Radley and Sutton Courtenay, and in the chimney pots of the older stone-built and brick properties along Ock Street and Stert Street.
Nearest BBKA-affiliated associations to help with swarm collection and local advice.
OX14 1QY· approx. 1 km
Visit websiteOX20 1LP· approx. 20 km
Visit websiteRG8 0QY· approx. 22 km
Visit websiteAssociation data sourced from the British Beekeepers Association directory via SwarmBase.
Spring opens on blackthorn, hawthorn and cherry plum along the stone hedges of the Cotswolds fringe and the chalk lynchets of the Vale. Oilseed rape is locally significant in Cherwell and South Oxfordshire. Beech in the Chilterns contributes to a huge honeydew-flavoured June flow some years, while lime avenues fill central Oxford and the larger market towns. Bramble, rosebay willowherb and field bean carry July; ivy along the Thames valley walls and the old college gardens closes the year.
More on beekeeping in OxfordshireReport it in under a minute and a trained local beekeeper will arrange safe collection.
