DEFENCE officials are buzzing after millions of new recruits landed at a secluded base in the moors.

The army - of bees - will stand tall in the grounds of protected Ministry of Defence land at Fylingdales Early Warning Station on the North York Moors.

A commercial beekeeper has won a licence to install 300 beehives on MOD land at the radar station, which has scanned the skies for hostile missiles since the height of the Cold War.

The 15 million bees will nestle away quietly in their honey hives as the land is protected by the defence headquarters.

Steve Ryan, managing director of the Bee Farm, at East Ayton, Scarborough, and Bee Health Ltd, at Bridlington, said each hive would house about 50,000 bees.

"If it works we will increase the numbers next year."

Mr Ryan, whose bees were due to arrive yesterday, said it was the first time he had tried to get a licence for the land, on the A169 between Pickering and Whitby.

Mr Ryan said the attraction to the RAF Fylingdales land was that it was well-maintained and the moors were rich in heather for honey.

"People think Fylingdales is a nasty place, being an army base in the middle of the moors, but they are very environmentally-conscious up there.

"We think it is a particularly good site. One advantage to us is that people can't bother the bees because of the security up there."

The beehives will be taken in for winter after about five weeks gathering honey. They will return to the site next year in August.

An MoD spokesman confirmed that consent had been granted for the licence in consultation with English Nature "in line with our conservation policies, not as any form of deterrent to trespassers".