Local Honey in West Midlands
Find honey in West Midlands on the map
The West Midlands is largely urban, and many of the producers here keep hives in suburban gardens or on the edge of the countryside. Birmingham and District Beekeepers Association trains new beekeepers at its teaching apiary in Highbury Park, Kings Heath, and holds the Birmingham Honey Show each September – an open show with plenty of local honey for sale. Coventry Beekeepers Association, launched in 1932, lists members selling honey from Allesley, Earlsdon, Corley and villages around the city.
Bee 90 Honey keeps hives in Shirley, Earlswood and Lapworth and sells raw honey through a deli and café in Shirley, Knowle Donkey Sanctuary and Swallow Cruisers at Hockley Heath. In Coventry, Coventry Bees and Coventry Honey keep hives in the city.
Explore West Midlands by town
Beekeeping landscape and local forage
The conurbation's Victorian parks and suburban streets are planted heavily with lime, which flowers in July and gives the region's most reliable single flow. Allotment sites — of which Birmingham has an unusual number — provide continuous forage from February crocus through to autumn raspberry and bean flower. The canal network, denser here than anywhere in the country, carries bramble, willowherb and Himalayan balsam along miles of unsprayed bank. Railway embankments do the same job. The city's heat island effect extends the season at both ends, so colonies here are often flying weeks before and after their rural neighbours. Around the edges — Solihull, the Meriden gap, the Clent and Lickey Hills — there is hawthorn, sycamore and some genuine countryside forage.
What West Midlands honey can taste like
Darker and more complex than most rural honey, with a strong lime character in mid-summer. Varies noticeably street to street.
Seasonal forage calendar
| Month | Typical forage and colony activity |
|---|---|
| January | Winter-flowering garden shrubs — mahonia, viburnum — worked on mild days. The urban heat island helps. |
| February | Crocus and snowdrop in parks and allotments. Hazel. Early pollen is plentiful. |
| March | Blackthorn, cherry plum, ornamental cherry along suburban streets. |
| April | Fruit blossom in gardens and allotments. Dandelion. Sycamore and field maple. |
| May | Hawthorn and horse chestnut in the parks. Colonies build fast. |
| June | Garden forage, allotment beans, clover on verges. Bramble opens on the canal banks. |
| July | Street and parkland lime — the main crop. Bramble and buddleia in quantity. |
| August | Willowherb on railway land, buddleia, late bramble, allotment raspberry. |
| September | Himalayan balsam along the canals; ivy begins. |
| October | Ivy, plus late garden forage. Bees fly later here than in the surrounding countryside. |
| November | Occasional mild-day foraging on garden shrubs. |
| December | Little to nothing, though colonies are rarely fully shut down. |
Flowering times are typical and can shift by two to three weeks with the weather, season and altitude.
Places to find local honey in West Midlands
Birmingham, Coventry, Wolverhampton, Solihull, Dudley, Walsall, West Bromwich, Sutton Coldfield
Frequently asked questions
Is city honey from Birmingham or Coventry safe to eat?
Yes. Urban honey is routinely tested and generally shows lower pesticide residues than honey from intensively farmed land, because gardens and parks are not sprayed on an agricultural scale. Traffic pollution does not accumulate in honey in any meaningful way — bees filter nectar through their own bodies.
Why does West Midlands honey taste of lime in July?
Because the conurbation is full of lime trees — planted along Victorian streets and through the parks — and they flower heavily in a short window. Lime honey is pale green-gold with a fresh, faintly minty note. Several local beekeepers bottle it separately from the rest of the summer crop.
Buying local honey in West Midlands
Use the listing details to choose how to buy, then contact the seller before travelling.
- 5 active directory listings currently appear for West Midlands.
- 3 listings are marked as raw honey.
- 1 listing reports an outlet.
- 1 listing has a verified webshop link.
The directory does not track live stock or harvest dates. Availability, collection, delivery, prices and seasonal varieties can change, so ask the seller to confirm what is currently available.
Honey producers and beekeepers
Bee 90 Honey
Solihull, West Midlands
By The Bees Knees Honey Bees
Willenhall, West Midlands
A small beekeeping business on the Willenhall-Bloxwich road selling its own local honey.
Coventry Beekeepers Association
Coventry, West Midlands
Charitable beekeeping association whose members sell locally produced honey across Coventry and Warwickshire.
Coventry Bees
Coventry, West Midlands
Unblended raw wildflower honey from a family-run garden apiary where Coventry meets Warwickshire, plus other local beekeepers' honey.
Coventry Honey
Coventry, West Midlands
Coventry Honey produces local honey from apiaries located in and around Coventry.