Warner's Honeybee Gin, 70cl

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When Andre takes out the first honey frame covered with bees there is a collective intake of breath from the group. It is incredible to see these creatures at work and I feel rather privileged.

I find the hum not frightening but rather hypnotic. And then there is a loud buzz in my left ear. It’s disconcerting. Is it in my suit or outside? I used Rieger’s Dry Gin, which is distilled here in Kansas City. The Rieger distillery is manufacturing tons of hand sanitizer right now, so I’m featuring their beautiful product as my own little thank you. Bee’s Knees Variations

How to make:

You have 60,000 bees all working cohesively for the greater good. They cannot survive on their own, they need to work together to survive. We could learn a lot from them.' If you divide one drink between two Champagne glasses and fill the rest with bubbly, you’ll find yourself with a French 75. Personalisation is available on the following 70cl Gins; Harrington Dry Gin, London Dry Gin, Lemon Balm Gin, Honeybee Gin, Elderflower Gin, Rhubarb Gin, Raspberry Gin, Sloe Gin, Spring Blossom, Strawberry & Rose Gin and Christmas Cake Gin We learn some fascinating facts. Ninety eight per cent of the hive is female. The queen lays around 1,000-2,000 eggs a day and the bees hatched in late August and September will live through the winter - creating heat by flexing their wings.

As has been well publicised, honeybee numbers are in decline. This year is the worst Andre has experienced since he began beekeeping in 2007.Cardona and Son Spirit Co was launched two years ago and with the success of its Hitchin Honey Gin and Hitchin Honey Spiced Rum, in the summer they launched Hitchin Elderflower and Borage Honey Gin. Andre is working on a clementine and spiced gin for Christmas.

Andre is passionate about protecting the honeybee and describes them as ‘unsung heroes’. There are 270 species of bee in the UK, of which just under 250 are solitary bees. They are vital to pollinate crops and many of the trees and flowers that provide habitats for wildlife. It is estimated that one third of the food we consume relies on pollination, mainly by bees. I ask if the hives have their own characters. ‘Each colony definitely has their own character,’ Andre says. ‘They are generally based on what the queen is like and which drones she has chosen to mate with. Our colonies are generally quite mild-mannered. Colonies generally remain in the hive. Sometimes the colony may swarm if they run out of room in the hive or a new queen is ready to hatch.’ Early in the book I spoke in disparaging terms of the Bee's Knees. This, however, was because as it originally came out during prohibition days it consisted of equal parts of lemon juice, honey, and gin. If made as a variation of the standard Gin Sour, merely substituting honey for the sugar syrup, it is acceptable. David A. Embury, The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks, 1948 If you want more of a casual, long sipper, pour the ingredients over ice and top it off with club soda (essentially a Tom Collins). Andre continues: ‘When scout bees find a good source of nectar or pollen they tell the other bees of their discovery by doing a special dance on the honeycomb called the waggle dance which communicates the distance and direction of the source.'He hopes to expand the business nationally with a percentage of profits used to support local biodiversity projects, as well as continuing to build new hives and cultivate raw honey.