A Swarm in May is Worth Its Weight in Hay

22nd April 2026

“A swarm in May is worth its weight in hay.”

It’s an old beekeeping saying, but one that perfectly captures this moment on Goodwood Estate, when the landscape is alive with movement and possibility. Across hedgerows, meadows and woodland edges, spring is reaching its peak and in the apiary, that same sense of abundance is matched by an extraordinary surge of activity, as honey bee colonies expand, divide and prepare for the season ahead.

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The saying, “A swarm in May is worth its weight in hay” may be an old one, but it still rings true across the Goodwood estate each spring. The natural world offers quiet clues to the season ahead, written in the movement of bees, birds and butterflies.

Goodwood's resident beekeeper Jo Ambrose of Ambrose Honey, which supplies honey from apiaries kept on the estate shares more about what bee activity and swarming means at this time of year. 

“May is when everything in the apiary feels alive,” says Jo “Colonies are expanding rapidly, in the strongest hives, you can see as many as 2,000 new bees emerging each day. On warm mornings, there’s this constant movement at the hive entrance, bees coming and going with pollen and nectar. It’s noisy, it’s busy, and it’s one of the most joyful sounds of the season. The bees are happy and summer is coming.”

May is also swarming season.

“When a colony has expanded throughout spring, it reaches a natural point where it divides,” she explains. “The bees instinctively raise new queens, and then the old queen leaves with thousands of workers to find a new home. They leave behind a smaller colony, which continues under the new queen.”

“For beekeepers, it can be challenging, you lose your queen and a large part of your workforce in one go, which can affect honey production. But for the bees, it’s entirely natural. It’s how they survive and renew themselves.”

Across the estate, the bees are foraging through a landscape of wildflower meadows, hedgerows and rotational crops, collecting nectar and pollen from a wide range of sources.

“What makes Goodwood so special is the diversity of forage,” she says. “The bees aren’t relying on one crop or one flower type, they’re moving through clover, blossom, hedgerow plants and herbs.”

This is what gives Ambrose Honey, the honey produced here on the estate its character. It’s a reflection of the landscape itself.

This connection between land and hive is what defines the honey from the estate. Each jar carries the imprint of the season, shaped by weather, soil and bloom.

The honey is used across the Estate kitchens at Farmer, Butcher, Chef, The Kennels and Café 24 and is available to buy in the Goodwood Farm Shop; a small, golden expression of the Estate in spring.

“In many ways,” Jo adds, “the bees tell us everything we need to know about the estate. If they are thriving, the land is thriving.”

And in May, they are always telling us the same thing and it’s a good time to be here.

You can find Ambrose Honey at Goodwood Home Farm shop.

And if you are taking a walk on the estate throughout May, you can get involved in the Bumblebee Conservation Trust’s initiative to identify and count the number of these wonderful species that are in crisis. 

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