England may be out of honey pre-Christmas

LONDON, Oct. 17 (UPI) -- Honey suppliers in England said they expect to run out of honey before Christmas due to the declining bee population.

Stuart Bailey, chairman of the Britain's largest honey producer, Rowse Honey, said the bee population, which has dropped 30 percent from last year in Britain, means his company only expects to ship out about half of what it had originally planned to send to stores this year, The Telegraph reported Friday.

"Supplies continue to dribble through and we might have enough for another six weeks or so but I expect it to be gone before Christmas," Bailey said.

"It has been a terrible, terrible year, possibly the worst for 28 years. Bee numbers are down again and the weather has been so bad it has prevented them from foraging. We will be lucky if the total honey crop this year amounts to 2,000 tons," he said.