Wet and windy weather around Christmas has put paid to what had promised to be a bumper honey production season.
Peter Bray, who owns one of the country's largest honey packers, Airborne Honey, is now expecting a "slightly above average" season.
Mr Bray says beekeepers are hoping for extended periods of fine, stable weather over the few weeks so they can collect the honey.
The annual honey crop is 10,000 tonnes of which Airborne Honey packs more than a tenth .
