Wiltshire is chalk. Salisbury Plain holds the largest expanse of chalk grassland left in north-west Europe, and because much of it has been military training land for over a century it has escaped the ploughing and fertiliser that removed the same habitat elsewhere. For bees that is a rare resource.
The Plain's unimproved grassland carries clover, bird's-foot trefoil, knapweed, marjoram and scabious in a mix that most English farmland lost decades ago, and colonies sited around its margins work a genuinely wildflower crop. Sainfoin — an old chalk-country forage legume enjoying something of a revival — is grown on some downland farms and is a superb nectar source. Around the edges of the county, the Avon, Kennet and Wylye valleys bring willow, hawthorn and a long bramble season, while the arable land in the north towards Swindon adds oilseed rape and field beans. Savernake and the West Woods contribute lime and sycamore.
Light amber, floral and clean, with a firm fine-grained set. Downland honey from the Plain has a distinct herbal quality from marjoram and thyme.
Flowering times are typical and can shift by two to three weeks with the weather, season and altitude.
Salisbury, Swindon, Chippenham, Devizes, Trowbridge, Marlborough, Warminster, Melksham
Sainfoin is a deep-rooted chalk-country legume, once grown widely as fodder and now returning on some downland farms. It is an excellent nectar source and gives a pale, delicately flavoured honey. Volumes are small and it is rarely sold as a single crop, but Wiltshire is one of the few counties where you might find it.
Because it has largely escaped modern agriculture. Long-term military use has left tens of thousands of acres of unimproved chalk grassland with a flora — clover, trefoil, knapweed, marjoram — that has been lost from most farmed land. Colonies around its margins get a genuine wildflower forage that is hard to find elsewhere in southern England.
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