Bees fight back with a bumper crop of honey

BEE populations may have plunged in recent years, but it seems they have been making honey while the sun shines, a survey has revealed.

Despite atrocious weather earlier this year, capped by the Beast from the East snowstorms, beekeepers said the long, warm summer has produced a honey crop up a third on the previous year to an average 30.8lb per hive.

The British Beekeepers Association (BBKA), which surveys its members every year, said that although this is still considered small compared to yields a few decades ago, new farming practices and a reduction in the use of pesticides are helping honeybees and other insects re-establish numbers.

Wales had exceptional improvements in its honey yield, nearly doubling from last year’s average per hive to 31.4lb.

Calwyn Glastonbury, a beekeeper in the Usk Valley, said: ‘Spring blossom came and went exceptionally quickly this year, which was a worry, but the warm summer more than made up for it and was great for our honeybees.’

Margaret Wilson, chairman of the BBKA, said: ‘Honeybees and all our wild creatures need food to eat, and that can only come from what we plant and grow, so gardening and agricultural practices are incredibly important.’