Uttoxeter is a market town and racecourse town on the River Tean in east Staffordshire, set in the mixed pastoral and arable country of the Dove-Tean watershed. The South Staffordshire BKA and Burton BKA both serve this corner of the county, and the surrounding landscape — the watermeadow willows of the Tean and Dove valleys, the mixed farmland hedgerows around Stramshall and Bramshall, the old parkland limes and sycamores of the Uttoxeter fringe, and the oilseed rape fields of the gently rolling Staffordshire Plain — gives local bees a solid agricultural season from early blackthorn to autumn ivy.
Collectors regularly attend swarms in the older properties and lime trees of the Market Place and High Street conservation areas, along the River Tean riverside willows and watermeadow margins at Bramshall and Stramshall, in the old garden remnants and allotment plots of the town fringe, and in the chimney stacks and eaves of the older town-centre and farmstead properties throughout the Tean valley.
Nearest BBKA-affiliated associations to help with swarm collection and local advice.
ST17 0UP· approx. 18 km
Visit websiteDE13 0BN· approx. 18 km
Visit websiteST9 0EL· approx. 21 km
Visit websiteAssociation data sourced from the British Beekeepers Association directory via SwarmBase.
Oilseed rape leads the early flow across the arable belt. Cannock Chase contributes a significant late heather crop — bell first, then ling — on its extensive sandy commons. The Staffordshire Moorlands add bilberry and small ling patches; lime in Stafford, Lichfield, Burton and Stoke-on-Trent fills the June streets. Bramble and rosebay willowherb are everywhere in the former colliery and brickworks land. Ivy carries hives into autumn on old red-brick terraces and the greenbelt villages.
More on beekeeping in StaffordshireReport it in under a minute and a trained local beekeeper will arrange safe collection.
