Midhurst sits in the heart of the South Downs National Park, in the Rother valley between Cowdray Park and the western Weald. Its mix of veteran parkland oaks, sweet-chestnut coppice and flower-rich verges gives honey bees an unusually rich working landscape.
Collectors here are regularly called to swarms in the mature trees of Cowdray and Iping Common, in the heather fringe of Woolbeding, along the boundary hedges of the Rother valley hamlets, and in chimney voids of the sandstone cottages of North Street.
Nearest BBKA-affiliated associations to help with swarm collection and local advice.
PO18 0EE· approx. 14 km
Visit websiteGU32 3HG· approx. 14 km
Visit websiteRH14 0DS· approx. 17 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.
