AN MP created a real buzz when she went to discover how the county’s bee population is looked after.

Romsey and Southampton North MP Caroline Nokes took time out of her busy schedule to visit Ampfield Apiary.

Ms Nokes got fully kitted out in a full bee-suit to ensure she didn’t get any unwanted attention from the insects at the apiary, which is one of a number in the Food and Environmental Research Agency National Bee Unit Sentinel Apiary Programme.

Part of the programme includes keeping a countrywide surveillance programme to spot exotic pests that can harm bee populations like the Asian Hornet, which has now spread to the Belgian border.

Ms Nokes, said: “Here on the south coast bee populations are most likely to be affected by any new diseases or predators coming in from the continent and I was very impressed with the measures taken to make sure that anything new could be quickly identified.”