Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth on 2014-04-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what they are doing to ensure the protection of bees.

Lord De Mauley

The importance of pollinators, including the honeybee, and their value to both food security and sustaining the natural environment is recognised as a high priority. In view of this, Defra has taken action on a number of fronts, including:

· contributing £2.5 million over five years to the Insect Pollinators Initiative;

· establishing the Healthy Bees Plan, a ten year plan to protect and improve the health of honeybees in England and Wales, of which five years has already been completed;

· continuing to fund the long-established National Bee Unit bee health programme, which includes inspection of colonies, diagnosis of bee pests and diseases, and training for beekeepers; and

· launching a public consultation on the National Pollinator Strategy this month.