Stone is a canal town on the River Trent and the Trent and Mersey Canal in the heart of Staffordshire, midway between Stafford and Stoke-on-Trent. The South Staffordshire and North Staffordshire BKAs both cover this central part of the county, and the surrounding landscape — the Trent riverside willows and canal-side blackthorn, the mixed farmland hedgerows of the Aqualate and Oulton countryside, the parkland limes and sycamores of the Kibblestone and Swynnerton estates, and the oilseed rape fields of the fertile Trent valley — gives local bees a reliable mixed season.
Collectors regularly attend swarms in the older properties and lime trees of the High Street and Granville Square conservation areas, along the Trent and Trent and Mersey Canal towpath willows and watermeadow margins at Aston and Meaford, in the parkland and old garden remnants of the Kibblestone and Swynnerton estate fringe, and in the chimney stacks and eaves of the older canal-town Georgian and Victorian properties.
Nearest BBKA-affiliated associations to help with swarm collection and local advice.
ST9 0EL· approx. 15 km
Visit websiteST17 0UP· approx. 15 km
Visit websiteCW11 2UR· approx. 28 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.
