The images on this page show some of the bee boles (or likely bee boles) noted in various locations across the city:
- in the wall of the War Memorial garden (Images 1, 2 and 3)
- the car park behind Girlings solicitors – locals have found an innovative way of using this space (Image 4)
- off St Dunstan’s – not far from Roper House (Image 5)
- in the wall of the cathedral car park near the Burgate access (Images 6 and 7).
For more on local bee boles see Penelope Walker’s article ‘Bee Boles in Kent’ in Arch. Cant. volume 106 (1988) pg 107-127. One local private property (The Manor House in St Stephens) has a large number of bee boles, 9 of which are indoors, in cellar recesses. Use of indoor ledges apparently helped keep down the cost of winter feed (sugar) given to the colonies. NB there is no public access to this property.
For more information on bee boles in the Cathedral War Memorial Garden please click here.
The International Bee Research Association (IBRA) maintains a data base of all historic bee boles – see