Bicester is a rapidly growing market town in north Oxfordshire, its older limestone core fringed by new residential development set among the clay arable and hedged pasture of the Cherwell headwaters. The oilseed rape of the flat Cherwell plain gives local colonies a powerful early start most years, and the ancient hedgerows and orchards of the villages towards Ambrosden, Launton and Stoke Lyne add a patchwork of hawthorn, field maple and bramble across a long mid-season.
Collectors in Bicester regularly attend swarms in the park trees of Garth Park and the old-town garden hedgerows of Kings End and Causeway, in the hedgerow hawthorns of the greenbelt farmland towards Launton and Ambrosden, in the chimney pots of the older limestone and brick properties in the town centre, and in barn and stable eaves on the farm margins of the outer Cherwell Valley.
Nearest BBKA-affiliated associations to help with swarm collection and local advice.
OX20 1LP· approx. 15 km
Visit websiteOX14 1QY· approx. 26 km
Visit websiteHP22 5TE· approx. 28 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.
