HC Deb 04 July 1967 vol 749 cc232-3W
Mr. John Lee

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will provide an estimate of the loss of domestic hive bees occasioned by the use of chemical sprays and fertilisers.

Mr. Hoy

The peak of the 1967 crop spraying season is now past. There are over 180,000 colonies in England and Wales, but in only 67 of these from which dead bees have been submitted to the Ministry for examination has death been attributable to chemical sprays; in 1966 the number was about 200.