Gift of the Gods
BBC radio 4

Despatched to the ancient world to explore the early history of apiary, Martha Kearney was clearly having a terrific time (27 January). From a Cretan cave where the infant Zeus was thought to have been nurtured by a friendly local swarm, she proceeded to Heraklion to examine artefacts relating to the Minoan bee, before travelling to the mainland to Mount Hymettus in search of an ancient house whose terracotta pots had been identified as antique hives.

Then it was back to Crete to interview a modern-day bee-keeper who declared, with all the solemnity of a Hollywood actor saluting his co-star, that it was “a pleasure to work with such animals”.