Written question asked by Bill Etherington (Labour) on Monday, 17 November 2008, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 19 November 2008. It was answered by Jane Kennedy (Labour) on Wednesday, 26 November 2008 on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Bees

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when he last made an assessment of the effectiveness of the operation of the Bee Diseases Control Order 1982.

Answer: The Bee Diseases Control Order 1982 was replaced by the Bee Diseases and Pests Control (England) Order 2006. The operation of the order was reviewed at DEFRA's annual meeting with beekeeping associations which took place on 5 December 2006.Since then, in conjunction with stakeholders, DEFRA has produced a draft bee health strategy which identifies a series of priorities for taking forward work under the bee health programme, and for implementing the controls under the current legislation.

Secondary information