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21/01/2009 18:12:21

DEFRA offers support to National Bee Unit for bee health research



The £4.3 million increase in funding for research into bee health announced by Defra is a step in the right direction and recognition of the sustained lobbying carried out by the industry, the NFU said.

Defra Secretary of State Hilary Benn said nearly £2.3 million over the next two years would support the work of the National Bee Unit while a further £2 million over five years would go towards bee health research.

NFU Vice President Paul Temple said: "The industry has been lobbying for many months for the Government to increase the level of funding for research into the problems affecting bee colonies. While this isn’t as much as we were hoping for it is a step in the right direction and recognition of the seriousness of the problems.

"Honey bees are an underpinning component of the British countryside – whether it’s heather moorland, a hedgerow, an orchard or a field of beans. The role they play in pollination is vital for food production.

"Our bee farmers and beekeepers are the custodians of every single honey bee in our countryside and are facing devastating bee health problems. This money will go some way towards funding the comprehensive and co-ordinated research that needs to be undertaken."

Since last summer the NFU has been part of a cross-industry group, including the British Beekeepers’ Association, the Bee Farmers Association, and Rowse Honey Ltd, that has been lobbying the Government to increase spending on bee health research to try and find the causes of why one in three bee colonies has been lost over the past year.

Bee Farmers’ Association Secretary John Howat said: "Today’s announcement is welcomed and the industry will continue to work to ensure Government use this extra funding to tackle the most important issues facing bees and beekeeping".




User Comments


The proliferation of phone masts across the country causes damage to every living being and thing. As all living things are water-based and masts emit microwave radiation which is attracted to water,nothing will escape. Bees, insects, bats, birds, being smaller,will succumb more quickly.
12 months ago, a Government Spokesman announced that, by the year 2020, there will be an ADDITIONAL 300,000 newly diagnosed cases of cancer each year.
Why?? What do they know??
Long-term, low-level radiation has killed and will kill many,be they small creatures or human beings.
The attraction that microwave radiation has to water, is in all probability the reason why the ice-caps are melting. This radiation is now everywhere.
A German farmer and his son are beekeepers and live near a mobile phone mast. The farmer lost several of his hives. His son protected his hives with sheets of, I believe, aluminium. His bees survived.
The Government refuse to discuss this problem, even though many MP's are extremely worried.
Please use this theory in your research, as I believe it will save years.

Posted By Anonymous At 21/01/2009 22:55:13


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