Haywards Heath is a Mid Sussex railway town sitting on the edge of the Low Weald, surrounded by hedged pasture, ancient Wealden oak woodland and the headwaters of the River Ouse. The parks at Muster Green and Victoria Gardens, and the semi-rural fringes towards Scaynes Hill and Lindfield, give local honey bees access to a long, varied flow from March through October.
Local collectors regularly handle swarms in the mature gardens and lime-lined streets of the town centre, in the hedgerow oaks and hawthorns of the lanes towards Scaynes Hill and Wivelsfield, on the older properties around Muster Green, and in the roof voids of Victorian and Edwardian terraces near the station.
Nearest BBKA-affiliated associations to help with swarm collection and local advice.
RH19 4SJ· approx. 9 km
Visit websiteRH11 9AU· approx. 12 km
Visit websiteBN7 2LR· approx. 16 km
Visit websiteAssociation data sourced from the British Beekeepers Association directory via SwarmBase.
The county is carried by a long, staggered honey flow. Spring opens on the blackthorn and hawthorn of the Downs, followed by field maple and sycamore on the Weald, and the sweet-chestnut coppice still worked around the Arun and Rother valleys. Early summer brings white clover on the grazed chalk, bramble in every hedgerow, and the heavy lime flow that lines the streets of Chichester, Arundel and Horsham. Late summer leans on rosebay willowherb, balsam along the Adur, and a strong ivy flow into October on sheltered south-facing lanes. It is a long season, and hives work hard.
More on beekeeping in West SussexReport it in under a minute and a trained local beekeeper will arrange safe collection.
