They pollinate our plants, provide us with food and yet are still regarded mainly as a nuisance and something to be scared of.

Tony Jefferson has dedicated nearly his whole life to beekeeping.

Barring a period where he went away to university and discovered the twin pillars of beer and women, he has always been drawn back to his natural calling.

Beekeeping runs in his family ever since his father Alan (74) was introduced to the hobby while at school in Hinderwell.

The pair produce the famous Eskdale Honey, which they sell through Botham's in Whitby, in Alan's old shed at the back of his home near Staithes.

And 21-year-old nephew Richard is the latest in line to learn the art of bee-keeping.

But Tony admits that even at 46 years of age he still loves spending his day among the bees.

"If anything I enjoy it more now than I did when I started," he told the Whitby Gazette while tending to one of his apiaries in Dalehouse.

"We are stood out here, the sun is shining what could possibly be better than this?"

Along with his dad Tony was feeding the bees their usual diet of water and sugar, fed into the hives through an upside down jar.

At this time of year there is only between five and six thousand bees in the apiary but in the summer it can reach up to 50,000.

Tony, who lives in East Barnby, showed no fear in being up close to so many bees but admits he still gets stung quite often.

"It is a last resort for a bee to sting you and I have learnt if you respect them and do not flap at them then you'll be all right," he said.

"I still get stung and despite what you may think it still hurts as much as it did the first time.

"My one tip for people who do get stung is not to pull the barb out of your skin.

"If you do that then you'll force in more of the venom and do more damage than the bee could ever do, so in future scratch it out with your fingernail."

Tony and his dad tend to four apiaries across the area and often move hives around so the bees can have access to different plants and therefore produce different flavours of honey.

"We move them sometimes so they are near to heather or oil seed rape, which all produce a different kind of honey.

"It's also important that they are near to food and water so we often pack them up and take them out to farms and what not."

He says like all truly good honeys, Eskdale Honey goes hard when it is left in a cupboard.

"Honey should stiffen," he said.

"Mass manufactured water normally has a lot of water in it so that's what you are paying for.

"With proper honey all you need do is pop it in the microwave for 30 seconds before spreading it on your toast.

"I'm bound by law to put a three-year expiration date on the jar but in truth it will last forever."

Depending on the weather, as a damp summer can effect production, each hive can turn out up to 80 jars of honey a year.