English honey is unlikely to feature on Christmas menus this year as supplies run out.

The catastrophic decline in honey bee numbers has continued with populations down 30 per cent on last year.

Combined with another wet summer - which prevented the bees gathering pollen - it has resulted in a honey shortage.

Stuart Bailey, chairman of the UK's biggest producer, Rowse Honey, said: "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."

Amateur beekeepers in England produce about 3,000 tonnes annually but the bulk - 80 per cent - is distributed to family and friends or sold at the garden gate or at farmers' markets.

Supermarkets and shops rely on a few dozen big commercial honey farms for their supplies of English honey but there is much less available this year.

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