Shrewsbury is the county town of Shropshire, set within a great meander of the Severn with its Tudor timber-framed streets, gardens and the castle overlooking the river. The Shropshire BKA is based in the town, and the surrounding landscape — the river-meadow willows and meadowsweet of the Severn and its tributaries, the old orchard country of the Berrington and Bayston Hill fringe, the ancient parkland of Attingham and the mixed farmland of the North Shropshire Plain — gives local bees a classic Marches-town season from early sallow to late ivy on the old stone buildings.
Collectors regularly attend swarms in the old walled gardens and lime trees of the Pride Hill and Swan Hill conservation areas, along the Severn riverside willows and watermeadow margins at the Quarry Park and Castlefields, in the orchard and garden remnants of the Meole Brace and Bicton lanes, and in the chimney stacks and eaves of the older timber-framed and Georgian town-centre properties.
Nearest BBKA-affiliated associations to help with swarm collection and local advice.
SY5 8NP· approx. 2 km
Visit websiteSY133JL· approx. 26 km
Visit websiteSY11 4AD· approx. 26 km
Visit websiteAssociation data sourced from the British Beekeepers Association directory via SwarmBase.
Early sycamore and hawthorn open on the Severn Valley; oilseed rape is common on the North Shropshire plain. Lime at Shrewsbury, Ludlow and Oswestry gives a strong June flow. Bramble is dense; the mosses of Whixall, Fenn and Bettisfield contribute a patchy but distinctive late summer flow of bog rosemary and cross-leaved heath. The Long Mynd, Stiperstones and Clee Hills provide bilberry and late ling heather — still migrated to by Shropshire beekeepers in August. Ivy on the old red-brick farms and timber-framed cottages closes the year.
More on beekeeping in ShropshireReport it in under a minute and a trained local beekeeper will arrange safe collection.
