The Bee’s Weather Forecast

Which makes the better weather forecaster- a bee or the Met Office? Last year Gloria Havenband, an amateur beekeeper from Derbyshire, noticed that the entrances to her bee hives had been blocked with very dense beeswax, much thicker than is normal. Her bees, she said, had prepared impregnable defences against wind rain and snow- an unusually harsh winter must be on its way. Not at all, said the Met Office, we can expect a mild winter. We all know who was right.

This year, Mrs Havenband noticed that her bees had once again protected their hives with thick layers of beeswax. Once again, their powers of forecasting have proved to be much more reliable than the Met Office’s £30 million computer. Perhaps they should but a few bee hives on the roof of their computer room.