Honey shortage as bees leave

By [pwhitelam]

Honey could be in short supply in Lincolnshire after the local bees inexplicably deserted their hives.

Last year's worldwide honey harvest fell by 60 per cent due to drier conditions meaning bees had fewer nectar-bearing flowers to buzz around.

And supplies of Lincolnshire honey are believed to be down by a quarter.

Bees are suddenly deserting hives due to colony collapse disorder, but exactly what causes this is not clear.

Next week is National Honey Week in which people are encouraged to indulge in and celebrate the sweet syrupy stuff.

A study by the British Beekeepers' Association found that nearly one in three of Britain's 240,000 honeybee hives failed to survive last summer.

Owner of Doddington Hall Claire Birch said the first new honey from rape crops won't be available until the end of May.

"Our honey supplier Pont's brings us whatever they can and we've received 50 jars of heather honey which I think we'll sell quickly in two weeks," she said.

"I was surprised that National Honey Week is next week as there's not much local stuff about.

"Honey is lovely to eat and people swear by it for all sorts of medical conditions but for me the most important thing is what bees do in pollinating everything.

"If it wasn't for bees there'd be no vegetable garden or farm at Doddington Hall.

"Beekeeping is facing some real problems which I think the Government needs to look seriously at."

Secretary of the Lincoln District Beekeepers' Association Alan Campion said: "The rape crops are now in full bloom so if we get a good week or so of weather we should get some honey.

"And if we have a good summer there will be lots of honey but if it's wet there won't be much of a crop."

For more on the honey crisis, see Saturday's Echo.