Bees

House of Lords written question – answered at on 3 December 2012.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Lord Moynihan Lord Moynihan Conservative

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will introduce measures to support bee keeping, in the light of the experience of damage to the bee population and its effects in 2012.

Photo of Lord de Mauley Lord de Mauley The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Defra recognises that this has been a difficult year for beekeeping due to the poor summer weather. However, a number of measures are already in place to support beekeeping. Since the Healthy Bees Plan was launched in April 2009, the Food and Environment Research Agency (Fera), on behalf of Defra and the Welsh Government, has been working in partnership with beekeeping stakeholders on a number of initiatives to deliver the plan's objectives to improve honey bee health.

Beekeepers also benefit from Defra's bee health programme under which Fera's National Bee Unit (NBU) delivers a free inspection and comprehensive education programme on a wide range of beekeeping issues. The aim of the programme is to control the spread of statutory pests and diseases and improve beekeepers' disease recognition and husbandry skills.

Details of the implementation of the Healthy Bees Plan and the Bee Health Programme are available on the NBU's BeeBase website.

In addition, advice for beekeepers is published on BeeBase in response to topical issues, such as information on the importance of maintaining colony food levels to avoid starvation, which was published twice during the poor summer.

Does this answer the above question?

Yes0 people think so

No0 people think not

Would you like to ask a question like this yourself? Use our Freedom of Information site.