A beekeeper is combing the area for someone to take on his collection of 13 hives complete with hundreds of thousands of occupants.

Tony Jeffrey is calling it a day on his hobby after more than 30 years. His home in Keycol Hill, Bobbing, was devastated by a fire started by a lightning strike during the storm which swept the area in July last year.

Extensive repair work has been taking place and he and wife Tracy have only just moved back in. He has not able to devote as time as he would have liked to his beloved apiary in High Halstow.

The collection has grown over three decades after his brother first got him hooked when he showed him his hive in Dorset.

The retired drainage engineer said: “It’s a lovely hobby. I find it absolutely fascinating and the end result is you are doing good things for the environment and for pollination. A bee will fly three miles in any one direction.

“You get a sting or two occasionally if you upset them but that’s sometimes my own fault.” He can expect to harvest anything from 250 to 750lbs of honey from the 13 hives in the peak season from June to August.

Beekeeping is a growing trend in London with city dwellers turning rooftops and allotments into mini-apiaries and Mr Jeffrey, a member of the Medway and County of Kent Beekeeping Association, can understand why.

The grandfather said the hobby often attracts people from a range of different jobs.

He said: “While you are concentrating on your bees, you forget about all of the other problems at the office.”

He would prefer to sell the hives as a whole. Anyone interested can call Mr Jeffrey on 07530 363466.