Stafford is the county town of Staffordshire, set in the wide Sow valley between the Cannock Chase plateau to the south and the Staffordshire moorlands to the north. The Staffordshire BKA covers the town, and the surrounding landscape — the Sow and Penk watermeadow willows, the heather and bracken of Cannock Chase AONB to the south, the old parkland limes of Shugborough and the mixed farmland of the Staffordshire Plain — gives local bees a varied season from early sallow to late heather on the Chase.
Collectors regularly attend swarms in the lime trees and old garden remnants of the Greengate Street and Mill Street conservation areas, along the Sow riverside willows and watermeadow margins at Victoria Park and Baswich, on the heather and bracken margins of the Cannock Chase beyond Milford, and in the chimney stacks and eaves of the older town-centre and Victorian properties.
Nearest BBKA-affiliated associations to help with swarm collection and local advice.
ST17 0UP· approx. 6 km
Visit websiteST9 0EL· approx. 25 km
Visit websiteB74 2YT· approx. 33 km
Visit websiteAssociation data sourced from the British Beekeepers Association directory via SwarmBase.
Oilseed rape leads the early flow across the arable belt. Cannock Chase contributes a significant late heather crop — bell first, then ling — on its extensive sandy commons. The Staffordshire Moorlands add bilberry and small ling patches; lime in Stafford, Lichfield, Burton and Stoke-on-Trent fills the June streets. Bramble and rosebay willowherb are everywhere in the former colliery and brickworks land. Ivy carries hives into autumn on old red-brick terraces and the greenbelt villages.
More on beekeeping in StaffordshireReport it in under a minute and a trained local beekeeper will arrange safe collection.
