John Mellis said the cold and wet summer meant some hives had provided barely enough honey for the bees to survive on, let alone provide surplus.
He estimated that Scotland’s honey production was only a quarter of what it should be, calling this year’s yield a “total disaster”.
Mr Mellis is one of Scotland’s 26 bee farm owners, running about 250 hives from a base in the Nith Valley, north of Dumfries.
He said: “This year has almost nationally been a disaster from top to bottom of the UK.
“In Scotland, our blossom crop is probably 25 per cent of what it should be.”
