Apr. 03 2024
Source Page: Pest-Specific Contingency Plan for Asian Hornet (Vespa velutina nigrithorax)Found: in this document) is a highly aggressive non-native predator of pollinating insects, including honey bees
Asked by: Alistair Strathern (Labour - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the resources available to beekeepers to tackle the impact of Asian Hornets on (a) honey bees and (b) other wild pollinators in Mid Bedfordshire constituency.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government recognises that honey bees and wild pollinators are an essential part of our environment and play a crucial role in food production. All pollinators contribute the equivalent of more than £500 million a year to UK agriculture and food production, by improving crop quality and quantity. Pollinators are also beneficial to our wider, natural ecosystems.
Recognising the potential impact that Asian hornet would have on honey bees and wild pollinators, Defra, in collaboration with the Welsh Government, has developed the Asian hornet contingency plan which details the response to Asian hornet. The plan is regularly reviewed and was last updated in January 2023. The operational response is carried out by the National Bee Unit (NBU), part of the Animal and Plant Health Agency.
In 2023 the NBU has located and destroyed 72 nests in 56 locations. The NBU has now fine-tuned its response and enhanced its preparedness, and it can frequently find a nest within a day of an initial sighting being reported.
The Defra funding for the NBU is to deliver the Bee Health Programme and other agreed actions including responding to Asian hornet. This includes ensuring that NBU inspectors’ expertise is maintained through training, and that they have the necessary equipment and support to work effectively.
NBU has the necessary skills and experience and is therefore best placed to deliver the operational response.
We appreciate the vital role that beekeepers take in the response through helping raise awareness of the threat of Asian hornet, educating people in identifying these insects, encouraging them to report any suspected sightings and monitoring traps. Accurate and timely reporting is critical to the response and helps the NBU to continue to respond quickly and effectively to any potential nests.
Mentions:
1: Fairlie, Jim (SNP - Perthshire South and Kinross-shire) enhance habitats for our pollinators. - Speech Link
2: Simpson, Graham (Con - Central Scotland) They provide a lifeline for wild bees and offer multiple other benefits, including storing vast amounts - Speech Link
3: Fairlie, Jim (SNP - Perthshire South and Kinross-shire) to help pollinators. - Speech Link
4: Allan, Alasdair (SNP - Na h-Eileanan an Iar) What steps is the Scottish Government taking to deal with the threat that is posed to Scotland’s bees - Speech Link
5: Fairlie, Jim (SNP - Perthshire South and Kinross-shire) The Scottish Government is clearly seeking to protect pollinators through all the pollinator strategies - Speech Link
Asked by: Charles Walker (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Asian hornet on (a) the bee population and (b) the level of crop pollination.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government recognises the essential role played by honey bees and wild pollinators in our environment, acknowledging their contribution to crop pollination. All pollinators collectively contribute over £500 million annually to UK agriculture and food production by enhancing crop quality and quantity. Additionally, pollinators play a vital role in supporting the natural ecosystem.
Asian hornets prey on honey bees and other pollinators so pose a significant threat to the pollination services that these insects provide. To date rapid action has been taken in the UK to find and destroy Asian hornet nests. We would expect that there has been a localised impact on honey bee colonies and other pollinators. The Government remains committed to taking swift and effective contingency action in response to all credible sightings of Asian hornet.
Written Evidence Jan. 10 2024
Inquiry: Insect decline and UK food securityFound: INS0050 - Insect decline and UK food security Buglife - The Invertebrate Conservation Trust Written Evidence
Written Evidence Nov. 14 2023
Inquiry: Insect decline and UK food securityFound: INS0044 - Insect decline and UK food security Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew Written Evidence
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of permitted pesticides on pollinator populations in England.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government’s first priority with regard to pesticides is to ensure that they will not harm people or pose unacceptable risks to the environment.
Defra funds research projects examining the impacts of pesticide use on honeybees and the environment. As part of the National Honey Monitoring Scheme, we fund the analysis of honey samples aimed at assessing levels of pesticides in honey across England, Wales, and Scotland. This provides an estimated level of honeybee exposure to pesticides across different land uses.
In addition, Defra contributes funding to the Pollinator Monitoring Scheme (POMS) which tracks changes in pollinator numbers, including the abundance of bees, hoverflies, and other flower-visiting insects across the UK.
Pollinators are a priority for this government, and we are taking action alongside many partners to implement the National Pollinator Strategy’s provisions. The National Pollinator Strategy Action Plan was published in May 2022 and sets out more specifically how we will continue to act to fulfil the vision, aims and objectives of the Strategy, over the period 2021-2024.
Dec. 22 2023
Source Page: Scotland’s Honey Bee Health Strategy: implementation planFound: Issue: Interaction of honey bees with the environment and other pollinators Introduction: Emerging
Mentions:
1: Theresa Villiers (Con - Chipping Barnet) From the pollinators that enable us grow crops and the marine life that provides our most popular national - Speech Link
2: Wera Hobhouse (LD - Bath) such as bees and butterflies. - Speech Link
3: Sarah Dyke (LD - Somerton and Frome) England was once a country brimming with wildlife, from bees and butterflies to birds and beavers, but - Speech Link
4: Jim Shannon (DUP - Strangford) been involved in a project for black bees. - Speech Link
Found: Debate on the environmental impact of neonicotinoids and other pesticides