Poor weather means apple harvest numbers down in County Armagh

Like the rest of us, the bees did not want to venture out into the cold, wet spring weather.

This led to a lack of pollinators at stage one of the fruit growth.

The trees also need to be maintained and treated, and when the weather is frequently wet it is difficult to spray and give the trees the treatment they require.

There are about 100 serious growers mostly concentrated in a five-mile radius around Loughgall taking in Portadown, Richhill, Armagh city and Moy (over the border in County Tyrone).

They average about 50,000 tonnes of apples a year, and most of the growers say the tonnage is down.

An exact number is not available at this stage as the harvest is unusually late this year and unfinished due to the poor weather.