St Davids — Tyddewi — is the smallest city in the United Kingdom, a cathedral city set on a wind-exposed plateau at the tip of the St Davids Peninsula. Despite its size, the cathedral close contains some of the finest lime trees in Pembrokeshire, and the sheltered valley of the Alun river below — where the cathedral and Bishop's Palace sit — gives local bees a protected forage corridor on an otherwise exposed headland. Coastal gorse on the Pembrokeshire Coast Path between St Davids Head and Ramsey Sound is among the earliest in Wales. Pembrokeshire Beekeepers' Association is well established in the peninsula parishes.
Local collectors handle swarms in the lime trees and cathedral-close gardens around the cathedral precinct, in the sheltered Alun valley below the cathedral where gorse and bramble meet the river, in the older stone properties of the city centre on Cross Square and Nun Street, and in chimney stacks and eaves of the small coastal cottages and farm steadings of the peninsula.
Nearest BBKA-affiliated associations to help with swarm collection and local advice.
SA62 5QL· approx. 24 km
SA44 5LQ· approx. 63 km
SA31 2JG· approx. 69 km
Association data sourced from the British Beekeepers Association directory via SwarmBase.
Gorse on the Pembrokeshire Coast Path begins flowering in earnest by March. Blackthorn and hawthorn follow on the sheltered hedges; sycamore and horse chestnut in Tenby, Haverfordwest, St Davids and Fishguard carry May. Lime and bramble fill midsummer in the towns. The Preseli hills contribute bell and ling heather in a quietly reliable August flow. Coastal sea-lavender, sea-thrift and dune plants along Freshwater West and Newgale add seasoning; ivy on stone-built cottage walls closes the year.
More on beekeeping in PembrokeshireReport it in under a minute and a trained local beekeeper will arrange safe collection.
