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

To ask His Majesty's Government what is their latest assessment of the health of the bee population in England.

The bee population is comprised of honey bee colonies managed by beekeepers and bee farmers, and wild bees, of which there are more than 250 species in the UK.

Defra supports the honey bee population through the work of the National Bee Unit inspectorate, which operates our bee pest surveillance programmes and provides free training and advice to beekeepers, including on pest and disease recognition.

Levels of American foulbrood (AFB) and European foulbrood (EFB), serious diseases of honey bees, have remained relatively low in recent years. In 2021, around 35,000 colonies across 5,500 apiaries were inspected in England and Wales. In England, AFB was found to be present in 0.13% of colonies inspected in 2021, and EFB in 2.73% of colonies.

Our contingency planning and response work has proved effective in dealing with incursions of the invasive species Asian hornet, which poses a serious threat to honey bees and other pollinating insects. We have robust import controls and an extensive surveillance programme in place for other invasive pests such as Small hive beetle which, to date, has not been detected in the UK.

Our annual Hive Count exercise indicates that numbers of managed honey bees have increased in recent years, from around 252,000 UK colonies in 2017 to 272,000 in 2021. To a large extent, numbers of honey bees are dependent on the number of people willing to keep bees.

Defra's indicator recording the distribution of wild pollinating insects in England between 1980 and 2017 shows long term decline for the majority of the 377 assessed species of hoverflies and bees. In the short term, however, around 40% of these species have become less widespread, and around 40% have become more widespread. A greater number of recorded bee species are becoming more widespread in England than are becoming less widespread. The reverse is true for hoverflies. We cannot provide information on which species are declining and which are increasing. We are keeping these trends under review.

Pollinators are a priority for HM Government, and we are taking action alongside many partners to implement the National Pollinator Strategy’s provisions including publication of the National Pollinator Strategy Action Plan in May 2022. Our Healthy Bees Plan 2030 sets out how we will protect and improve the health of honey bees in England.