Atherstone is a market town in north Warwickshire on the Watling Street, close to the Leicestershire and Staffordshire borders. The Nuneaton & Atherstone BKA serves the town, and the surrounding landscape — the watermeadow willows of the River Anker, the ancient hedgerow oaks of the Arden fringe around Grendon and Baddesley Ensor, the canal-side blackthorn and bramble of the Coventry Canal corridor, and the mixed farmland of the Mancetter and Polesworth countryside — gives local bees a solid mixed-agricultural season.
Collectors regularly attend swarms in the lime trees and older properties of the Long Street and Market Street conservation areas, along the River Anker and Coventry Canal riverside willows and hedgerow margins at Grendon and Hartshill, in the old orchard and allotment remnants of the Atherstone and Mancetter fringe, and in the chimney stacks and eaves of the older coaching-town and Victorian terraced properties.
Nearest BBKA-affiliated associations to help with swarm collection and local advice.
CV11 5DN· approx. 7 km
Visit websiteB74 2YT· approx. 20 km
Visit websiteCV3 4AQ· approx. 21 km
Visit websiteAssociation data sourced from the British Beekeepers Association directory via SwarmBase.
Early flows come from blackthorn and cherry in the Arden hedgerows and oilseed rape on the lighter soils around Southam and Shipston. Hawthorn is abundant; sycamore and field maple fill the middle of May. Lime and sweet chestnut in the parkland around Warwick, Kenilworth and Stratford produce a strong June flow. Bramble and rosebay willowherb support July, and a solid ivy flow along the ironstone villages closes a long season.
More on beekeeping in WarwickshireReport it in under a minute and a trained local beekeeper will arrange safe collection.
