From The Times
April 9, 2008
Dad’s
Army to defend honey bees against deadly foreign
pests
Valerie
Elliott, Countryside Editor
Green
Central: click here to read Times Online's
environment blog
The creation of a Dad’s Army-style force to protect
honey bees from killer diseases was
announced by the Government yesterday.
The plan was included in a new package of measures to
save the hives of 200 to 300 commercial beekeepers
and an estimated 44,000 hobby owners that are under
threat from new pests and infections predicted to hit
Britain in the next ten years.
Volunteer beekeepers will be enlisted in any future
emergencies to help the national team of bee
inspectors to track and eradicate new viruses. The
recruits will be kitted with safety suits and veiled
helmets.
RELATED
INTERNET LINKS
• Bee Health - Defra
• Beebase - National Bee Unit
RELATED
LINKS
• Virus blamed for mystery of the vanishing
bees
• Wake up! The bees are on their
knees
• Mystery plague that kills bees could cost US $8bn
in lost crops
The
strategy, announced by Lord Rooker, Food and Farming
Minister, coincides with evidence from the British
Bee Keepers’ Association that the country has lost 25
to 30 per cent of its bee colonies in the past year
as the varroa mite spreads killing millions of bees.
There are 274,000 bee colonies; 50 years ago there
were more than 400,000. Since 1992 the mite has
spread from Devon to cover the whole of the South,
the Midlands and East of England. Lancashire and
Cumbria are now on the front line as the mite moves
north, feeding on larvae and adult bees.
Beekeepers also fear the importation of a disease
that has wiped out millions of bees in America.
Colony collapse disorder has spread to France,
Germany and Italy. Climate change may drive other
exotic parasites to Britain. The biggest threats are
from the small hive beetle, parasitic brood mites and
the Asian hornet.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural
Affairs set out further action to save the honey
bee,
Apis mellifera,
in a consultation paper. Among the proposals are
controls at ports to identify bee smuggling, and more
checks for unrefined beeswax; a campaign to persuade
beekeepers to sign up to a national database; the
maintenance by keepers of records on the movement and
location of their bees; tighter controls on honey
imports; more training for keepers to identify
diseases; and an expansion of the network of
“sentinel” hives near ports and airports that alert
experts to the arrival of new diseases.
Lord Rooker fears that without emergency measures the
honey bee will disappear from Britain within a decade
and will threaten the fruit industry. The value of
honey bees in crop pollination – mainly apples,
pears, raspberries, strawberries, black-currants and
blueberries – is estimated at £166 million while the
total revenue to beekeepers is £11.3 million from the
sale of honey and other products and pollination
fees. Bees are also important for pollinating bushes
such as hawthorne in hedgerows, which provides food
for birds.
The association, which represents 11,000 beekeepers,
is calling for £8 million to be allocated for new
scientific studies over the next five years.
Martin Smith, its chairman, who owns eight bee
colonies in Skelmers-dale, Lancashire, said: “We
welcome the Government’s strategy but without cash
for research honey bees will not survive . . . One
person has lost 23 out of his 24 colonies.”
The
enemy
Varroa
mite
(Varroa destructor). First
identified in Britain in 1992, the mites feed on
adult bees and spread bee viruses. About 25 to 30 per
cent of hives have been wiped out in a year
Small
hive beetle
(Aethina tumida). Not
yet seen in Europe but common in Africa and America.
They infest hives and the beetle larvae feed on comb
and honey, forcing bees to leave hives
Parasitic
brood mite
(Tropilaelaps). Not
seen in Europe but common in Asia and Middle East.
Mites infest hives and feed on the blood of the
developing bee. They cause death in the bees or
reduce lifespan
Asian
hornet
(Vespa velutina). Not
in Britain but seen in France in 2004. They infest
hives in search of larvae to feed young and can
decimate a hive in two hours Sources: Defra, British
Bee Keepers’ Association