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