Written question asked by Lord Moynihan (Conservative), in the House of Lords. It was answered by Lord Henley (Conservative) on Monday, 18 October 2010.

Bees

Question: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to offer in-person training to beekeepers through the National Bee Unit.

Answer: The National Bee Unit (NBU), part of the Food and Environment Research Agency (Fera), delivers the bee health programme in England and Wales. The programme includes the provision of a free apiary inspection and diagnostic service for statutory diseases and pests, and an extensive free training and advisory programme to enable beekeepers to become more self-reliant in combating disease through improved bee husbandry. So far in 2010, beekeepers in England and Wales have benefited from over 30,000 colony inspections which include one-to-one training with beekeepers. In the same period, the NBU has also provided over 800 technical events attended by more than 30,000 beekeepers to help them improve skills in areas such as colony husbandry and pest and disease control. The improvement of beekeepers' husbandry skills is a key objective of the Healthy Bees Plan delivered in partnership by Fera, the Welsh Assembly Government and key organisations such as the Bee Farmers' Association, the NFU, the British Beekeepers' Association (BBKA) and the Welsh Beekeepers' Association. This work includes a recently announced project (jointly funded by the BBKA, the National Diploma of Beekeeping Board and Defra) to produce new training materials and recruit 400 beekeeper trainers.

Secondary information