Bees are absolutely vital to our lives. They don't just make honey but play a critical role in the production of all sorts of foodstuffs - from fruit and veg to meat and dairy.
In Buriton's annual 'Food & Farming' talk, local expert Roy Godfrey described all the work that bees do in pollinating crops and how they are worth hundreds of millions of pounds each year to the British economy.
Mr Godfrey has farmed bees for over 35 years - owning almost 6 million bees at his peak a few years ago. He works with farmers across Hampshire, taking hives of bees to their fields to help ensure good crop yields.
But disease and the bad weather of 2012 have reduced the number of hives that he now keeps. He is also increasingly wary of the risk of thefts by bee-rustlers.
Bees can travel up to two miles around their hives whilst others remain in the hives playing specialist roles such as nurses, scouts and even undertakers!
Bees have been on this planet for 100 million years - much longer than mankind - and honeybees are the only insects that produce food for us, in the form of honey.
But the work that they do in pollinating so many other crops is much more vital to us. One mouthful in every three that we eat, we owe to the work of bees.
