Bees get £4.3M health boost

A combination of disease and bad husbandry has led to the loss of one third of British bee colonies over the last year.

The British Beekeepers Association fears a further two billion bees will be lost this winter at a cost of £54m to the economy.

Environment Secretary Hilary Benn said it was time to ‘get to grips’ with the problem.

Over the next two years the Government has earmarked £2.3m for the National Bee Unit to help its efforts to improve beekeeper husbandry and ability to deal with disease.

A further £400,000 will be allocated to bee health research every year for the next five years.

“Pests and diseases, when combined with poor summers can leave colonies unable to survive the winter.

“We must get to grips with this, to see just how serious a problem it is, what the impacts on pollination are, and what we can do in response,” said Mr Benn.

BBKA chairman Martin Smith welcomed Defra's commitment but said £4.3m had to be the beginning of a much greater investment.

“Properly funded research into the causes of the decline in numbers is vital. The BBKA welcomes the Government ‘s announcement as the start to finding the £8 million required over the next five years for bee health research.”