Invading parasite wipes out bee colonies across the UK

BRITAIN'S HONEY bees are coming under renewed attack from a deadly parasitic insect which is putting the whole honey industry under threat.

More than 4,000 apiaries (bee farms) in more than 50 counties have been infected with the varroa mite, a microscopic bloodsucking pest which came to the UK from continental Europe in 1992.

It has struck hard at beekeeping in the South and in Wales and has now reached Scotland and Ireland.

Varroa, which originated in the Far East, weakens bees' natural defences, leaving them susceptible to viruses, wasps and other predators, and often leading to the collapse of the colony. This has happened to more than 30 per cent of bee colonies in southern England.

The mite is now wiping out hive populations around the country, Peter Dalby, of the British Beekeepers' Association, warned yesterday. Some keepers were losing up to 90 per cent of hive populations, he said.

A typical hive might be home to some 80,000 honey bees, which are vital for the local environment where they pollinate fruit and plants.

"Around the village where I live there were 20 to 30 wild colonies but now there is not even one," said Mr Dalby, who farms more than 100 hives in Hertfordshire. "The impact on the environment will be substantial. Bumble bees will decline, birds which eat seeds will starve and the whole face of the countryside will change."

Varroa can be controlled by pesticides but there are fears that the mite may develop resistance to them.

Medwin Bew, head of the National Bee Unit at the Government's Central Science Laboratory in York, leads the team conducting more than pounds 1m of research into the mite.

His group is carrying out final safety checks on two new products to fight varroa.