Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an estimate of the trend in the population level of bees in North Staffordshire over the last 10 years.

While the Department does not hold comprehensive historic data on the population level of honey bees, the National Bee Unit does hold some county data, including for Staffordshire as a whole, on its BeeBase website. This data relates to honey bees managed by beekeepers and indicates a rise in the honey bee population in Staffordshire, from around 2,300 colonies in 2012 to around 3,200 colonies in 2022.

It is important to note that the overall number of beekeepers registering on BeeBase has risen dramatically over the last 10 years, and this may account for the apparent rise in the honey bee population suggested by the colony numbers.

We do not hold information specific to the population level of wild bees in North Staffordshire over the last 10 years. More generally, Defra’s indicator recording the distribution of pollinating insects in England between 1980 and 2017 shows long term decline for the majority of the 377 species of hoverflies and bees. In the short term, however, around 40% of these species have become less well distributed, and around 40% have become more well distributed. In the short term, more recorded bee species are becoming more widespread in England than are becoming less widespread. We cannot provide information on which species are declining and which are increasing. We are keeping these trends under review.