TENS of thousands of bees have died in mysterious circumstances and decimated a Bicknoller beekeeper's colonies.

Pub manager Tim Young and his partner Jane Bishop returned home from a week away on Monday to discover their two hives totally wiped out.

The hives, kept in the garden of their Dashwoods Lane home, would each have housed up to 60,000 bees at the height of the summer.

And after talking to local experts, the couple believe pesticide spraying may be to blame.

"They've just died en masse," Tim told the Free Press. "It's wiped me out completely for this year.

"It was a real shock when I looked in the hives.

"I've spoken to experts and most seem to think that this is spray damage. I think they had been dead about a week when I found them."

Although beekeeping was just a hobby, Tim had been supplying the pub he runs in the Cotswolds with honey.

Self taught, he is a former member of both the Exmoor and Taunton Beekeepers Associations.

"It's a real shame but there's nothing I can do this year," he said.

"If I want to get started again in the future I will have to pay around £150 for a new swarm of bees."

And Jane added: "Although we hadn't been doing much with the hives recently we had some fantastic honey last year."

Last week the Free Press highlighted the concerns of local people over plans to air spray 780 hectares of the Quantock Hills in a bid to control the growth of bracken.

The Quantock Commoners' Association is employing a company to carry out the helicopter operation within the next two months, using the herbicide Asulox.

Jane said when she read the story she wondered whether the spraying had begun.

But QCA chairman Ben Bartlett said this week he understood it was due to take place during July.

"As far as I know, no spraying has taken place," he told the Free Press.