hives

Fortunately, his own 1,500 hives are intact, because the fire stopped just metres away from the fields where he keeps them.

Tillman: There was a point it would make me break out in hives because it felt like I had no control over it.

"Although the hives have all been full of food, the bees have just dwindled. Most of the bees survived through January, February, and then they just vanished," he says.

Within seconds of getting into the bath, Elysia became red and developed a hives rash all over her body.

While some bee-keepers aim only to produce honey, many others rent out their hives to farmers who need the insects to pollinate their crops.