§ Ms AthertonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many cases of varroa mites her Department has identified, broken down by county. [110866]
§ Mr. MorleySince the establishment of Defra in June 2001, there have been a total of 94 new varroa infested apiaries reported to the Central Science Laboratory's National Bee Unit. The data are broken down by county in the table.
New apiaries found infested with varroa since June 2001 County 2001 2002 2003 Avon 1 Bedfordshire 1 1 Berkshire 1 1 Buckinghamshire 2 2 Cheshire 1 1 Cornwall 1 Cumbria 2 4 1 Derbyshire Devon 1 2 2 Durham 1 1 East Sussex 1 1 Gloucestershire 1 Greater London 2 3 Hampshire 1 Hereford and Worcs 6 1 Hertfordshire 1 Lancashire 2 Lincolnshire 1 Norfolk 2 1 North Yorkshire 1 3 3 Northumberland 1 18 Nottinghamshire 1 Shropshire 1 Somerset 2 South Yorkshire 1 Staffordshire 1 Suffolk 1 1 Tyne & Wear 1 West Sussex 2 1 Wiltshire 1 1 Wales 1 1 Gwynedd 2 Total 6 61 27
§ Ms AthertonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what research her Department has undertaken to combat varroa mites. [110867]
§ Mr. MorleyThe Government have funded a number of research projects to combat the varroa mite since it was first discovered in the UK. Currently, Defra718W is funding a 3-year project that extends an earlier MAFF-funded investigation by Horticulture Research International (HRI) on the use of entomopathogenic fungi as a biological control of varroa. HRI is undertaking this project in collaboration with IACR Rothamsted. It is due to terminate in 2005 and is expected to cost some £323,000.
§ Ms AthertonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what action she has taken to deal with the threat from varroa mites; and if she will make a statement; [110868]
(2) what action she and her European Union counterparts have taken to deal with varroa mites. [111004]
§ Mr. MorleyVarroa has been the most significant threat to UK beekeeping since it was first detected in Devon in 1992. Defra funds a programme of bee health measures to assist the beekeeping sector, the cost of which was around £1.3 million in 2002–03. Under these measures, the National Bee Unit (NBU), part of the Central Science Laboratory, provides a free diagnostic and inspection service to beekeepers in England as well as training and technical advice to help them become more self-reliant through improved bee husbandry. In addition, the NBU has been carrying out routine screening throughout England and Wales for varroa mites that are resistant to authorised treatments, having first detected them in August 2001. To date, resistance remains isolated to certain areas of Devon and Cornwall. However, the NBU's advice to beekeepers is to remain alert to the threat of further spread and to report any suspected cases to them.
At EU level, Council Regulation (EC) No. 1221–97 provides for member states to assist the beekeeping sector to improve the production and marketing of honey by alleviating the burden placed on it by varroa. The EU reimburses up to 50 per cent. of Member States' expenditure on certain beekeeping measures. In the past year, the UK has received £324,000 under these measures for approved actions taken to combat varroa. The main thrust of most member states' programmes is, like the UK, to support the control of varroa through technical advice, the provision of diagnostic services and R&D.