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 will provide an update on progress being made with Operation Bumblebee; and how many of the planned 1,000 hectares of British farmland have been planted with wildflower seeds.

Answer: Operation Bumblebee is a project developed by Syngenta, taken forward in partnership with Sainsbury's. Natural England has maintained contact with this work but is not directly involved. According to the Syngenta website, 570 farmers and growers took part and some 1100ha of land was sown with appropriate seed mixes. This resulted in a 600 per cent increase in bumblebee numbers and a 12-fold increase in butterfly numbers. The project has now expanded, as Operation Pollinator, to six other European countries and to Australia. More information about Operation Bumblebee and Operation Pollinator, is available on the Syngenta website.

Secondary information