WORCESTERSHIRE honey could be in short supply this year following last summer's floods.

While homes and businesses were being wrecked, sports venues submerged and crops left to rot or washed away, the county's honey bees were also struggling in the torrential conditions.

Honey producer Richard Jackman, of Berrow Honey, Martley, who has 80 colonies of bees, said many of the crops, such as borage, where his bees usually collect nectar were destroyed in the downpours.

"While the torrential rain was coming down the bees were just sat in the hives," he said.

"But the worst thing was when it was sunny one day and raining the next. The bees did not know what they were doing."

Mr Jackman fears his production could be 50 per cent down.

"I normally harvest three tonnes," he said. "I am going to have to cut back on the number of farmers markets I go to. British honey is going to be in shorter supply than usual."

He said that other parts of the country, which were not affected as badly by the wet summer and flooding, might not suffer from a poor yield.

While Mr Jackman, who has kept bees for 14 years, did not lose any bees, he said one of his friends lost 14 colonies in the flooding.

He added that his bees were not in peak condition because they did not have enough honey to eat over the winter and he had to feed them.

Mr Jackman also said that English honey had received good publicity recently which was likely to increase demand and therefore add to the shortage of supply.