Mexborough is a Don Valley town between Rotherham and Doncaster, where the river runs through low-lying arable land and the former colliery and canal infrastructure is gradually greening. The Don's riverside willows, alder and himalayan balsam, the old pit-head nature reserves at Manvers and Wath Ings, and the mixed farmland hedgerow network of the Don carriageway give local bees a late-summer balsam and willowherb flow that characterises this stretch of South Yorkshire.
Collectors regularly attend swarms in the riverside willow and alder of the Don at Denaby Ings and Sprotbrough Flash, in the himalayan balsam and buddleia of the former Manvers colliery nature reserve, in the mature lime and horse chestnut of the older Mexborough High Street properties, and in the chimney pots and eaves of the Victorian brick terraces of Queen Street and Church Street.
Nearest BBKA-affiliated associations to help with swarm collection and local advice.
S60 5PA· approx. 11 km
Visit websiteDN3 3AG· approx. 16 km
Visit websiteS75 3PX· approx. 16 km
Visit websiteAssociation data sourced from the British Beekeepers Association directory via SwarmBase.
The Don Valley arable belt contributes oilseed rape to the early flow. Sycamore and horse chestnut fill May in Sheffield parks — Norfolk Park, Endcliffe, Graves; the lime avenues of Broomhill and Doncaster carry June. Sheffield's western edge opens onto the Dark Peak moors, with ling heather on Stanage, Burbage and Big Moor — a crop Sheffield beekeepers migrate to regularly. Rosebay willowherb is dense on former steelworks land; ivy closes a long season in the blackened-stone suburbs.
More on beekeeping in South YorkshireReport it in under a minute and a trained local beekeeper will arrange safe collection.
