Safeguarding the future health of the honeybee needs an effective national register to help disseminate good practice and combat disease issues according to a report out today by the National Audit Office.
Its report echoes NFU views that all bee farmers and bee keepers should be encouraged to join a voluntary register to enable good access to information, especially regarding pest control and disease management.
However the report fails to fully recognise the need for more government funding for bee health research. The honeybee contributes around £200 million per year in terms of pollination for UK crops and plants, and in return bee industry leaders and the NFU are calling for just £8m of R&D funding over five years to combat problems with bee health and tackle declining bee numbers.
Vice President Paul Temple said: "The honeybee plays a vital role in pollination that is crucial to our food production. Our bee farmers and bee keepers play an important role as the custodians for every single bee in our country and it is important to be able to contact them, particularly when pest control and disease management are key issues. Defra must make it a priority to better encourage and facilitate registration."
The report estimates there are 20,000 unregistered bee keepers, and therefore not know to the National Bee Unit. It sets out recommendations which are welcomed by the NFU including:
• Setting up a comprehensive register for national bee keepers and record accurate data for the location of honeybee colonies
• Build better working relationships across the relevant industry associations and share research information across the industry to best exploit limited resources
• And work towards a more comprehensive inspection programme and advice to bee keepers on how to combat disease and reduce the risk of it spreading.
