Hatfield is a Hertfordshire new town built around the older Jacobean core of Old Hatfield and the extraordinary landscape of Hatfield House, whose 17-acre formal gardens, lime and sweet chestnut avenues and ancient oak parkland give local bees one of the finest estate honey flows in the county. The University of Hertfordshire campus adds open wildflower lawns and ornamental hedging, while the River Lea headwaters in the Stanborough Lakes park and the Welwyn Hatfield greenbelt fringe carry white clover, meadowsweet and willowherb through the midsummer months.
Collectors in Hatfield regularly attend swarms in the estate lime and sweet chestnut avenues of Hatfield House Park, in the older walled garden and churchyard of Old Hatfield conservation area, in the eaves and chimney stacks of the post-war terrace and prefab properties near the town centre, and on the scrubby greenbelt margin towards Welham Green and Brookmans Park.
Nearest BBKA-affiliated associations to help with swarm collection and local advice.
AL7 3TT· approx. 4 km
Visit websiteAL1 1BY· approx. 8 km
Visit websiteSG13 7DR· approx. 12 km
Visit websiteAssociation data sourced from the British Beekeepers Association directory via SwarmBase.
The chalk uplands of the north — around Baldock, Royston and Letchworth — give oilseed rape, sainfoin and a solid hawthorn flow. The southern clay country leans on sycamore, horse chestnut and field maple, with the limes of Hertford, Harpenden and St Albans producing a classic June crop. Ashridge, Tring Park and the Chilterns edge add beech forage. Bramble on the commons and rosebay willowherb along the Lee Valley corridor carry midsummer. Ivy closes a long, productive year.
More on beekeeping in HertfordshireReport it in under a minute and a trained local beekeeper will arrange safe collection.
