§ Mr. Ben ChapmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans her Department has to increase funding for programmes aimed at preventing the spread of bee diseases. [97545]
§ Mr. MorleyThe Department has no plans to increase its level of expenditure on the programme of measures that are undertaken to protect bee health in England.
§ Mr. Ben ChapmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the health of the beekeeping industry in the UK. [97543]
§ Mr. MorleyOf the 44,000 beekeepers in the UK about 400 operate on a commercial basis. Since 1992, the greatest single challenge to beekeeping has been the need to control the parasitic mite, varroa, which was first detected in England in that year. With Government help, beekeepers generally have learned to apply good husbandry techniques to control this threat. The market for, and interest in, honey produced in the UK has received a boost as a result of the ban on imports of honey from China in early 2002.
§ Mr. Ben ChapmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the environmental role played by honey bees in pollinating(a) orchards and (b) agricultural crops. [97544]
§ Mr. MorleyIn July 2001, the Department received from ADAS Consulting Ltd. an independent economic policy evaluation of our bee health programme. The ADAS researchers noted in their findings the public good dimensions of bee health, in particular the benefits to society arising from pollination services, including commercial crops, domestic and wild plants. They estimated the value of pollination of commercial crops82W at around £120 million, with orchards accounting for £79 million and agricultural crops £21 million of this total respectively.