A WILDLIFE illustrator has had his bee artwork featured on six special edition stamps.

Veteran artist Richard Lewington was commissioned to design six stamps depicting rare bees from across the British Isles.

This is the second time that he has worked on stamps for the Royal Mail.

In 2013 he illustrated 10 of the country’s most colourful butterflies, nine of which can be found in Oxfordshire.

Royal Mail spokeswoman Val Bodden said: “We are delighted to be working with Richard again after the butterflies a few years ago.”

The artist said: “There aren’t many artists who get the opportunity to do Royal Mail stamps twice.

“The work gets seen by a bigger audience and there is a thrill knowing that my artwork will be winging its way across the world.”

Mr Lewington has worked as a wildlife illustrator on dozens of animal and insect volumes.

He was commissioned to illustrate the six stamps in April last year, and spent six months collaborating with the Royal Mail until he created the finished design in October.

Director of stamps Andrew Hammond said: “Without bees, we would have no tomatoes, no apples, no strawberries, courgettes, sweet peppers or blueberries and many more.

“We are pleased to be issuing a set of stamps that highlight the contribution these tiny, but hugely important creatures make to our lives.”

The bee stamps were issued yesterday, and Mr Lewington said that the choice of bees were quite fitting.

The lifelong wildlife enthusiast, added that the concern about Britain’s varied bee populations meant that the choice of bees was apt.

He said: “There are 270 different types of bee in Britain, the honey bee is just one of them.

“The importance of the bee for pollination is great and the public are thinking more and more about it.

“Hopefully the stamps will be a reminder of how important the bee populations are.

“People who are concerned need to lobby the Government and tell them how dissatisfied they are.

“The Royal Mail wanted me to draw bees from all different parts of Britain, so one is from Northern Ireland and one is from Scotland.”

The 63-year-old married father-of-one has worked as a wildlife illustrator for more than 40 years.

He said: “In my career I seem to have been able to draw a bit of everything.

“Luckily there are still lots of animals and insects out there that need to be drawn.”