Busy Bees Apsley

Mill Street, Apsley, Hemel Hempstead HP3 9RG
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9.1 106 Reviews
  • Busy Bees Apsley, Hemel Hempstead
At Busy Bees Apsley nursery in Hemel Hempstead, it is never a dull day, as they offer an extensive variety of exciting activities and resources that cater for every child's individual needs and interests. The nursery welcomes children from babies through to pre-schoolers, with both part-time and full-time places available.

The highly experienced team at Busy Bees Apsley provide a fun-filled, exciting time at the nursery as well as caring for and nurturing the children during their nursery development so that they are ready to take on the next steps in their educational journey.

The enthusiastic team are dedicated to providing the best care for your children ensuring that they stay stimulated every day with the wide range of activities throughout the nursery. At Busy Bees, they also follow the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) curriculum to give your child the best start on their educational journey.

Busy Bees Apsley has an on-site Chef who prepares delicious and nutritious food for your little one to tuck in to throughout the day and caters for individual dietary requirements.

Want to learn more about the fantastic facilities and meet the friendly team at Busy Bees nursery Apsley? Book a visit today, the team will look forward to welcoming you!
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Type of Service

  • Day Nursery
  • Open all year
  • Full Day Care
  • Sessional Day Care

Group/Owner

Person in Charge

  • Diane Chichester Miles (Centre Director)

Number of Childcare Staff

  • 27

Total Places for Children

  • 88

Age Range

  • from 0 years 2 months
  • to 5 years 0 months

Funding & Fees

  • Please contact us for current fees and available discounts

Opening Times

  • Monday 07:30-18:15
    Tuesday 07:30-18:15
    Wednesday 07:30-18:15
    Thursday 07:30-18:15
    Friday 07:30-18:15

When Closed

  • Bank Holidays

Busy Bees Apsley Reviews (106)

9.1

Busy Bees Apsley has a Review Score of 9.1 (9.121) out of 10, based on 9 reviews in the last 2 years.
Over all time Busy Bees Apsley has 106 reviews.

Overall Experience
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Date Published
  • 106
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Reviewer Connection to Busy Bees Apsley
  • 78
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Total of 106, showing 1-20
Review from Viv N (Grandmother of Child) published on 9 July 2025 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
Initially our grandson attended 2 afternoons a wk building up to 4 days. He has loved it. The Director & the team have been wonderful introducing him to a range of fun experiences within an artistic, creative, practical programme developing his skills in all areas of the curriculum. His literacy has
come on in leaps and bounds and he is growing into a confident, articulate, happy boy having developed positive relationships. The staff are extremely caring and fully supportive of his learning in all areas including toilet training. Altogether Busy Bees is a very special nursery.
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Review from R G (Mother of Child) published on 4 July 2025 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
I've had 2 kids at busy bees since 2020 and they love it. Even when a nursery opened closer to home we kept them there because we value the staff, the environment and how they have helped our children thrive. It's tough, putting the most precious people in your life into the care of someone else but
we need to work. And busy bees apsley has made that easier for us. A couple of years ago there was a rocky patch with high staff turnover (not unique to BB Apsley, it was sector wide seemingly) but throughout that our kids loved going & we never questioned leaving. Our youngest is about to leave the pre school room and we're so sad to be briefly parting ways, but we will be coming back with our third - even though we won't have a sibling there and could easily send them to the more local nursery...busy bees apsley has been a huge part of our childrens early years & I don't think I'd trust anywhere else. The activities, the facilities, the staff, the care, everything is exactly as you'd hope
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Review from F H (Mother of Child) published on 1 July 2025 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
I have had two children come all the way through Busy Bees at Apsley from 7/9months respectively until school age. Both of my boys have always been very happy, never reported a negative experience and have enjoyed good relationships with all the carers that have been with them. At first, I chose this
nursery based on two fundamental points - it's location en route to my workplace, and the privileges it provided which I didn't find promoted in many other nurseries, such as a 10% teacher discount and term time only, which were huge bonuses for me as a teacher. Essentially though, I believe my boys have been happy, safe and engaged in each one of their days there - the staff (though there has been a fairly high turnover) have all been attentive and happy to converse fully at pick up, and the managers I have met have been supportive and helpful. My children have flourished in their learning and developed good social skills from babies to being ready for school with the support of Busy bees
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Review from Satish H (Father of Child) published on 30 June 2025 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
My daughter has been attending Busy Bees Apsley for the past 10 months , and we couldn't be happier with the experience. The staff are absolutely wonderful - warm, caring, and attentive. It's clear they genuinely enjoy working with the children and create a nurturing environment where little ones feel
safe and supported.
We've seen real development and progression in our daughter during her time there. Her confidence, communication, and social skills have all grown, and she always comes home happy.
Busy Bees Apsley has been a fantastic place for her to learn, play, and thrive. We're so pleased with the care she receives and would highly recommend this nursery to other parents.
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Review from E M (Mother of Child) published on 27 June 2025 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
My child has been to 2 different nurseries before BB in Apsley. We have had different experiences. Attending BB for 10m now. Generally we feel quite happy ending up with them.
Pros:
-flexibility, easy to book additional sessions in advance or even on a day sometimes (depends on availability). Mngmt
seems accommodating.
-friendly staff and atmosphere. With the new manager we noticed changes and improvements.
-my child seems normally quite happy to go to nursery
Cons:
-little visibility on what's going on there during the day. Very photos published on the app.
-The rooms are all very closed off, no windows at all, it's impossible to come and watch your child for a few minutes before picking up or after drop off. I haven't even seen the new room my daughter goes to, what equip they have, how clean it is, sleeping arrangements.I wish the staff offered a bit more visibility.
-my child often comes out with dirty face, snotty and hungry.I'd wish for better hygiene and more snacks
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Review from J F (Mother of Child) published on 27 June 2025 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
My daughter has been attending the nursery for a year and she has loved being there. All the staff are amazing and always open the door with a smile. I love seeing what she gets up to on the app. The menu is amazing with such a variety of cuisines. She has developed leaps and bounds and we are very
happy with my daughters place at this nursery
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Review from K C (Mother of Child) published on 27 June 2025 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
Since my son started back in October at 17 months old, he has progressed developmentally hugely! The staff are professional, caring, friendly, nurturing and knowledgeable. Nothing is ever too much trouble for anyone and I am comfortable and confident leaving my little boy with people who really do care
about him in a bright, fun, educational and stimulating environment. The staff really are invested in the children's wellbeing and so sweetly celebrate all of their milestones, accomplishments and progression. Its a lovely place to be with a real sense of community.
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Review from Govind H (Father of Child) published on 24 June 2025 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 4.0 out of 5
My Daughter been going to busy bees from last 3 years and she is enjoying the nursery very well. Although the care and education is satisfactory only complaint is the admin part of the nursery. It is nightmare to speak to invoice issues or any payment related queries. The nursery director try to help
but the higher management office need to work on communication side.
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Review from Krishna H (Mother of Child) published on 29 August 2024 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
My son has been at the nursery for 3 years now and has just graduated, since he has been here we have seen him develop so much learning new skills, building confidence and being able to achieve the targets according to the EYFS standards. The staff are and have been fantastic in looking after our son
from their creation of new activities, fun playtimes and just taking good care of our son. I receive updates every day on what my son has eaten and pictures are shared of the activities they have done. Staff positivity and kindness has been brilliant and we look forward to sending our daughter here very soon.
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Review from N B (Mother of Child) published on 17 October 2023 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
My son has been at Busy Bees Apsley for just over a month, and he is absolutely flourishing! I'm so proud of how much he's learned already. The staff are wonderful and always happy to answer any questions or queries, no matter how silly. I look forward to seeing how much more my son is going to learn
and grow during his time here. Brilliant experience so far.
Reply from Emily Graves, Digital Content Assistant at Busy Bees Apsley
Hello, Thank you so much for taking the time to leave us such a wonderful review! We’re glad you’re giving your little one the best start in life with us.
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Review from Blessing O (Mother of Child) published on 10 October 2023 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
My eldest graduated from here, my youngest still at the nursery and absolutely loves it here. The staff are very friendly and kind, one challenge I have is that there is such a rapid change in centre managers, which I quite don't understand.
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Review from J N (Mother of Child) published on 9 August 2023 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 4.0 out of 5
Lovely nursery with very friendly staff. My little boy looks forward to going to nursery and has lots of lovely stories to tell me about his friends and teachers when I pick him up. Staff are attentive and good at giving daily feedback on the topics being looked at in preschool and what the children
have been learning through the day. The staff were supportive and caring during the settling in period.
Reply from Emily Graves, Digital Content Assistant at Busy Bees Apsley
Hello, thank you so much for taking the time to leave us such a wonderful review! We’re glad you’re giving your little one the best start in life with us.
40 years of Busy Bees – 40 years of best…read more
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Review from Meera S (Mother of Child) published on 7 August 2023 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
Thank you so much for such a wonderful experience for my little one. It’s been almost a year now and I could see a massive change in her from the time she joined from a silent watcher to a massive talker. She likes talking a lot, singing her rhymes, being more confident, started making good friends,
building a strong personality. Really want to thank Busy Bees staff from the bottom of my heart for making her a better child.
Reply from Evleen Price, Marketing Manager at Busy Bees Apsley
Hello, we love reading feedback like this! Thank you for sharing it with us; we will pass on your lovely comments to the team at Apsley.
40 years of Busy Bees – 40 years of best beginnings. Join us…read more
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Review from Claudine C (Mother of Child) published on 18 July 2023 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 3.0 out of 5
Although my child was happy here, we decided to leave as she was not developing as expected. The teaching was far below what I expected, especially around speech and language. She also had nappy rash frequently, although this did correlate with high usage of agency staff.
Meals were good and nutritious.
Indoor space looked good. Outdoor space is small, but looks nice.
Good use of an app to track their day. Would be nice to see photos though.
Reply from Emily Graves, Digital Content Assistant at Busy Bees Apsley
Hello, thank you for your feedback. We are pleased to read your comments on the nursery’s facilities and nutritious meals that are prepared on site by our chef. The nursery is now under new management…read more
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Review from E V (Mother of Child) published on 13 July 2023 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 4.0 out of 5
The overall experience is not bad. The ladies in the nursery are nice and great with the kids. My boy is happy to go to the nursery every day.
How they can get better, is the parent's visibility on their children's achievements and/or struggles. A parent's day will be nice so we can get to see the
room our children are playing in and get a full report on how they are doing.
Other than that, I would recommend it.
Reply from Emily Graves, Digital Content Assistant at Busy Bees Apsley
Hello, thank you so much for taking the time to leave us a review! We are delighted your little one is having a good experience at our nursery and have passed your additional feedback on to the team…read more
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Review from Sylvia K (Mother of Child) published on 28 May 2021 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
My son joined in December and has loved going to preschool within Busy Bees. The staff are great, and he has become close to them during his short time as they are a very caring and attentive team. Would highly recommend them.
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Review from Sandeep N (Father of Child) published on 27 May 2021 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
We are very pleased with the level of care and affection our child gets at Busy Bees Apsley. She has become confident and they have plenty of fun and learning activities. The environment is safe and staff are very friendly and caring. We couldn't have chosen a better Nursery and would happily recommend
this Nursery to other parents.
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Review from Maximilian L (Father of Child) published on 27 May 2021 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
Busy Bees is an excellent nursery. Super caring staff, very communicative and always there to help. Couldn't have chosen a better place for both of my kids. The kids feel safe and have the ability to learn, grow and develop in a safe environment. We would highly recommend this to any new parent looking
for a great nursery.
As parents, communication has always been key to us and the staff at Busy Bees and the Senior Management do an excellent job in keeping us informed at all times. During the last 12 months, management has shown great leadership and excellent skill to manoeuvre the nursery through the uncertain Covid times. Communication was always clear, precise and helpful. Whenever we had any questions, everyone within the nursery was eager to listen to us and help in any way they could.
For us, this is the best nursery in Apsley and in all of Hertfordshire.
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Review from Sarah E (Mother of Child) published on 27 May 2021 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
The staff are lovely. My little one is so close to them I could not dream of changing nursery. She has learnt loads and everyone says how advanced she is. I haven't seen inside the nursery due to Covid-19 but from the pictures I receive it’s lovely.
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Review from Ellie L (Mother of Child) published on 27 May 2021 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
My daughter has massively progressed in her development since starting nursery during lockdown, her social skills have also developed.
The team are excellent with my daughter, continually update parents during the day on the app and give a rundown of the child's day at the end of the shift. Would definitely
recommend this nursery.
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Current Review Score: 9.1 (9.121)

Overview of Review Score

The Review Score of 9.1 (9.121) out of 10 for Busy Bees Apsley is based on a) the Average Rating and b) the number of positive Reviews.

  1. The Average Rating is 4.7 out of 5 from 9 Reviews in the last 24 months.
  2. The score for the number of positive Reviews is 4.4 out of 5 from 9 positive Reviews in the last 24 months.

Detailed Breakdown of Review Score

The maximum Review Score for a Day Nursery is 10, which is made up from the Average Rating of Reviews (maximum of 5 points) and the Number of Reviews (maximum of 5 points) in the last 24 months:

  1. 5 Points are available for the Average Rating from all Reviews in the last 24 months. The Average Rating of 4.710 for Busy Bees Apsley is calculated as follows: ( (83 Excellents x 5) + (19 Goods x 4) + (4 Satisfactorys x 3) + (1 Very Poors x 1) ) ÷ 107 Ratings = 4.71
  2. 5 Points are available for the number of Positive Reviews in the last 24 months. A Positive Review is defined as any Review with an 'Overall Experience' of '4' or '5' (out of a max rating '5'). The 4.411 Points relating to the number of positive Reviews for Busy Bees Apsley is based on 9 positive Reviews in the last 24 months and is calculated as per below:

    The 5 points available are broken down as follows:

    1. 4 points are available for the first 10 Positive Reviews in the last 24 months; 3 points for the first Positive Review, and then 0.125 Points for each of the next four Positive Reviews and then 0.1 Points for the next five Positive Reviews. (1st = 3.000, 2nd = 0.125, 3rd = 0.125, 4th = 0.125, 5th = 0.125, 6th = 0.100, 7th = 0.100, 8th = 0.100, 9th = 0.100, 10th = 0.100) 3 + 0.125 + 0.125 + 0.125 + 0.125 + 0.1 + 0.1 + 0.1 + 0.1 = 3.9
    2. 1 point is available for the number of Positive Reviews reaching 20% of the number of registered child places in the last 24 months. If this number is partially reached, then that proportion of 1 point is given. eg a Day Nursery registered for a maximum of 50 child places has to reach 10 Positive Reviews to receive 1 point, if it has 7 reviews it will receive 0.7 points. 20% of the 88 number of registered child places is 17.6. 9 Positive Reviews ÷ 17.6 = 0.511
  3. When a Review is submitted by someone who has previously submitted a Review, only the latest Review will count towards the Review Score.
  4. If a Day Nursery does not have a review in the last 24 months, then it will not have a Review Score.

Child Vacancies

Please contact us for latest vacancies.

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Awards / Recognitions (1)

Meet the Team (1)

Jasmine

Jasmine Staines - Simmonds

Job Title: Assistant Centre Director

Hi, my name is Jasmine and I am the Assistant Centre Director here at Busy Bees Apsley.

Frequently Asked Questions about Busy Bees Apsley

What is the Age Range of Children that Busy Bees Apsley accepts?

Busy Bees Apsley accepts Children aged from 0 years 2 months to 5 years 0 months.

What Days & Hours is Busy Bees Apsley Open?

Busy Bees Apsley is open: Monday 07:30-18:15, Tuesday 07:30-18:15, Wednesday 07:30-18:15, Thursday 07:30-18:15, Friday 07:30-18:15.

How many Children does Busy Bees Apsley have capacity for?

Busy Bees Apsley has capacity for a total of 88 Children.

How far is Busy Bees Apsley to the centre of Hemel Hempstead?

1.4 mile(s) as the crow flies, distance by road may be significantly further.

Information on this page is displayed without responsibility for its accuracy on the part of daynurseries.co.uk. Please contact Busy Bees Apsley to verify any information. View our terms and conditions. Busy Bees Apsley has an Enhanced Service - more info.