DEPARTMENT FOR
ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS News Release (10/09) issued by
COI News Distribution Service. 21 January 2009
An extra £4.3
million to safeguard and undertake more research into the health
of bees was announced by Environment Secretary Hilary Benn today.
Mr Benn said that nearly £2.3 million over the next two years
would support the work of the National Bee Unit in its efforts to
help England's beekeepers deal with the problems facing their
bee colonies.
This will include identifying all those who keep bees and
providing expert advice to them on tackling pests and diseases and
applying good husbandry.
In addition, Defra will put an extra £400,000 towards bee health
research every year for the next five years. This extra funding -
a total of £2 million - forms part of a comprehensive bee health
strategy, which is under development.
Over the last two years Britain's bee colonies have suffered
significant losses due to a combination of potential issues
including the weather, the varroa mite, and other factors
requiring further investigation by researchers.
Speaking today at the Royal Society of Chemistry, Mr Benn said:
"Bees are vulnerable to a number of threats. 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.
"So today I am announcing an
additional £4.3 million of funding, targeted at bee disease
surveillance, education and research."
Mr Benn also highlighted the important role science will have to
play in producing enough food to feed nine billion people by 2050,
while simultaneously protecting the environment.
He continued:
"We must ensure that in meeting demand today we don't
destroy our ability to feed ourselves tomorrow.
"We're trying to find ways of producing more food, for
more people, using less energy, less fertiliser and less
pesticide, while producing fewer greenhouse gases - and we've
got to do all that with limited land and limited water.
"I believe that we have the knowledge and the technology to
do this, but the perfect storm of climate change, environmental
degradation and water and oil scarcity, threatens our ability to succeed.
"It is science that will help steer us through that
storm."
Notes to editors:
1. Defra will publish its Bee Health strategy and further
details of how this funding will be allocated in the coming
weeks, after the National Audit Office publish its report on
Animal Health.
2. More information on Defra's bee health programme can be
found on the Defra website http://www.defra.gov.uk/hort/bees/index.htm
and more on the work of the National Bee Unit (NBU)can be found on
the Beebase website https://secure.csl.gov.uk/beebase/. Beekeepers
can register with the NBU on line at
https://secure.csl.gov.uk/beebase/public/register.cfm or by
contacting the NBU on 01904 462510 or email nbu@csl.gov.uk. On
registering beekeepers can request a free apiary visit by a Bee
Inspector who will provide advice on disease recognition, control
and husbandry.
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