Dudley is the capital of the Black Country, a historic castle-town on the coal-measure limestone ridge with the Dudley Zoological Society and the Black Country Living Museum at its heart. The Black Country BKA covers the town, and the surrounding landscape — the old limestone grassland and scrub of the Wren's Nest and Castle Hill National Nature Reserve, the canal towpath flora of the Dudley Canal, the Stour watermeadow willows and the colliery reclamation grasslands of the Wrens Nest fringe — gives local bees access to some of the most botanically interesting limestone grassland in the urban Midlands.
Collectors regularly attend swarms in the older garden remnants and lime trees of the High Street and Priory Street conservation areas, on the limestone grassland and scrub of the Wren's Nest and Dudley Castle Hill NNR, along the canal towpath and Stour riverside willows at Brierley Hill and Cradley, and in the chimney stacks and eaves of the older Black Country Victorian properties.
Nearest BBKA-affiliated associations to help with swarm collection and local advice.
DY9 7PU· approx. 7 km
Visit websiteB13 8QG· approx. 15 km
Visit websiteB74 2YT· approx. 18 km
Visit websiteAssociation data sourced from the British Beekeepers Association directory via SwarmBase.
Spring is carried on blossoming garden cherry, blackthorn and horse chestnut in parks like Sutton, Lickey Hills and Cannon Hill. Urban limes — both small-leaved and hybrid — dominate the June flow, especially along the old tram and canal routes. Bramble is universal on allotments and towpaths, and rosebay willowherb flushes the brownfield and rail corridors through July. The Clent and Waseley Hills give a useful edge of hill forage to colonies in the southern fringe, and ivy closes a long urban season.
More on beekeeping in West MidlandsReport it in under a minute and a trained local beekeeper will arrange safe collection.
