Banbury is the largest market town in north Oxfordshire, set on the Cherwell at the gateway to the Cotswolds Edge and the heavy arable farmland of the Cherwell Valley. The oilseed rape of the Cherwell and Swere valleys gives colonies a powerful April–May start, the limestone ironstone hedges of the villages towards Hook Norton and Sibford carry a classic Cotswolds-edge hawthorn and field-maple flow, and the Cherwell towpath and the Victorian park trees of Spiceball Park and People's Park add to a long productive season.
Collectors in Banbury regularly attend swarms in the park trees of People's Park and Spiceball Country Park, in the garden hedgerows of Grimsbury and Easington, along the Oxford Canal towpath towards Cropredy and Fenny Compton, and in the chimney pots of the older ironstone and brick terraces of the town centre.
Nearest BBKA-affiliated associations to help with swarm collection and local advice.
OX15 5HZ· approx. 14 km
Visit websiteOX20 1LP· approx. 24 km
Visit websiteGL56 0UN· approx. 25 km
Association 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.
