NOW that the British Summer has faded like a withered rose and gone the way of a rotting grape on the vine, it’s nice to remember what once was with a picture that literally reeks of a high pollen count.

The picture of a bumblebee in mid-flight was taken by local lensman Gabriel Archan.

Gabe told the Chronicle, “I was sitting amongst the rose bushes in late August reading Proust and drinking pink gin when I heard an irritating buzzing noise.

“At first I thought it was the neighbour going crazy with a power tool, and then I noticed it was just an insect hovering around my flowers.”

Gabe added, “Because I’m neurodivergent, I’ve always had a hard time distinguishing bumblebees from wasps. To me, they’ve always been the same. They both have black and white stripes, both buzz a lot, and both will sting you out of sheer sadism.

“So after taking a picture of the flying offender for Intsa, I was about to spray it with some WD-40 and put it out of its misery, when my personal assistant Biggles screamed, ‘No, Mr Gabriel. No kill bee!’”

Gabe explained, “Biggles is from Portugal and she’s also a woman, so random emotional outbursts are to be expected, but after I had calmed her down by emptying a glass of gin in her face, she explained to me that bees are vitally important to environmental health and the stability of ecosystems.

“Apparently, they pollinate about one third of the world’s food supply, and without them there would be a lot less fruits, vegetables, and nuts to go around.”

Gabe added that after being convinced by Biggles that spraying Bees with WD-40 was a negative thing to do, he has learned the error of his ways and now plans to put together an educational children’s storybook on the plight of the bumblebees, entitled "Bee Kind!"