HL Deb 09 July 1999 vol 603 cc127-8WA
Lord Morris of Manchester

asked Her Majesty's Government:

How many apiaries are now infested with the varroa mite; what help and advice they have given beekeepers to reduce varroa infestation to harmless levels; and what progress there has been toward making the techniques of varroa monitoring and control part of routine bee husbandry in the United Kingdom. [HL3353]

Lord Donoughue

Information available as at 15 April 1999 showed there were 4,627 recorded varroa infested apiaries in England and Wales, and 16 in Scotland. Northern Ireland currently remains free from varroa.

A training programme to assist beekeepers to deal with statutory diseases and improve husbandry, including varroa diagnosis and control, is conducted by the Central Science Laboratory's (CSL) National Bee Unit (NBU) in England and Wales. CSL inspectors also provide advice to beekeepers, during statutory apiary inspection programmes, on routine control for varroosis. Similar arrangements apply in Scotland provided by the Scottish Agricultural Science Agency (SASA) and in Northern Ireland provided by the Department of Agriculture for Northern Ireland.

In conjunction with these programmes, two advisory leaflets have been produced; "Varroosis—a parasitic infestation of honey bees" and "Varroa jacobsonimonitoring & forecasting mite populations within honey bee colonies in Britain". The latter leaflet was the culmination of a 5-year MAFF funded research programme which also produced a Varroa Calculator to help beekeepers assess mite population levels, damage thresholds and therefore appropriate times to treat colonies. The NBU is also working closely with national beekeeping associations through the bee health panel.

MAFF, on behalf of UK Agriculture Departments, is continuing to fund research into combating varroa, examining the possibilities of biological control of the varroa mite and the interaction between bee viruses and the varroa mite.

With effect from 1 July 1999, questions relating to bee health matters in Scotland and Wales became the responsibility of the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly respectively.