Please help to save our bees (reseach project)

Honey bees don’t just produce honey but play a vital role in pollinating plants for food and other crops, making a substantial contribution of £165 million per annum to agricultural output. They also have an important environmental role, being responsible for pollinating wild plants which produce seeds and fruits on which birds and wild animals depend. Honey bees can become sick and colonies die-out. In recent years, bees have come under ever greater threat from pests and diseases which we don’t fully understand or against which the treatments available are ineffective. Increased beekeeping research is thus essential if we are to find answers and be able to protect our bees and the benefits they bring to everyone.

The Government has refused to increase the paltry £200,000 it currently puts into bee health research despite acknowledging the fact that if we don’t act we may lose our honey bees and their massive contribution to agriculture and the environment. There are virtually no wild honey bees left due to the effects of the parasitic varroa mite and the viruses it carries, and for which to date, there is no cure.

Beekeepers are now the sole guardians of the honey bee population in the UK. The British Bee Keepers Association is campaigning to get the Government to change its mind and increase research funding, so that we can protect our honey bees, before it’s too late.

The Facts:
–  Honey bees contribute £165 million pa to the agricultural economy
–  The Government spends just £200,000 pa on bee health research
–  The varroa mite is destroying bee colonies and is resistant to most approved medications
–  Foul brood diseases are ever present and require constant monitoring and control
–  New exotic threats such as the small hive beetle are expected in the UK anytime.
–  Colony Collapse Disorder responsible for massive losses in the USA may emerge here
–  We don’t know enough about bee disease control and the medicines available are inadequate

What do we want:
–  The Government to invest just £1.6 million pa in research to help find solutions

What can you do: 
* PLEASE sign the online petition at:  http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/BeeResearch/

* PLEASE forward this email to others.