Cranleigh claims to be one of the largest villages in England, sitting in the Wealden Greensand vale between the Surrey Hills AONB to the north and the West Sussex border to the south. The West Surrey division of Surrey BKA covers the area. Spring opens on hawthorn and wild cherry in the deep hedgerow lanes towards Ewhurst and Alfold; sycamore in the village centre and lime at the recreation ground follow; bramble is dense on the Greensand commons of Holmwood and Hurtwood; and the arable margins of the Weald yield clover and phacelia into late summer. The old village centre retains mature garden trees on substantial plots that give local colonies a reliable June–July flow.
Collectors regularly attend swarms in the mature garden oaks and apple trees of the older residential streets around The Common and Knowle Lane, in the thick hedgerow hawthorns and elders of the Ewhurst and Alfold lanes, in the roof spaces of the Victorian and Edwardian houses near the high street, and in the bramble and woodland edges of Hurtwood Common.
Nearest BBKA-affiliated associations to help with swarm collection and local advice.
GU5 0LB· approx. 7 km
Visit websiteRH14 0DS· approx. 12 km
Visit websiteRH11 9AU· approx. 20 km
Visit websiteAssociation data sourced from the British Beekeepers Association directory via SwarmBase.
Spring builds fast on blackthorn, hawthorn and horse chestnut along the North Downs scarp, then leans heavily on field maple, sycamore and the urban lime avenues of Guildford, Dorking and Woking. The lowland heaths — Chobham, Frensham, Thursley — give a late bell heather crop in good Augusts that colonies here can count on, supplemented by rosebay willowherb across the MoD training land. Bramble is dense from Box Hill to the Surrey Hills AONB, and the old walled churchyards carry a strong ivy flow into autumn.
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