I would first like to thank the Presiding Officer for allowing this debate to be rescheduled from April.

This topic of saving the honey bee was chosen as a way to hopefully raise its profile, because the fate of this insect says a lot about the health of the countryside as a whole, as well as the consequences of neglecting it.

I must recognise, that since this debate was originally scheduled, there have been a number of developments, which it is only fair to point out, on top of increases in Defra’s funding, the Minister has herself announced support for contacting unknown beekeepers, and spreading best practice – I believe that these are all steps in the right direction.

To say that honey bees are important would be a gross understatement.  These are the insects that pollinate a third of the food we in Britain eat.

From orchards to bean fields, it’s the honey bee that underpins the whole production.  This activity generates over 200 million pounds for the economy, and this comes on top of honey production that’s worth somewhere in the region of a further 30 million pounds.

Bees aren’t just commercially important - they’re also responsible for pollinating up to half of our wild flowers.  Wales and the rest of Britain would most certainly be a poorer place without our bees.

Our food security and the environment depend on the work of these insects, and by and large, they’re not kept commercially – as they are in other countries – instead, Britain has amateur beekeepers, who do it for the love of it, and pay out of their own pocket.

Wales has some four thousand beekeepers, with 20 thousand colonies, out of a total 274 hundred thousand in the rest of the UK.

So, when in the last year, beekeepers – who normally expect losses of about 5% – opened up their hives and found a third them empty, there are obviously huge implications for agriculture and the environment, especially since the Colony Collapse Disorder that’s spreading elsewhere in the world hasn’t reached Britain yet.

As to what’s responsible for the British losses – there’s no shortage of suspects – and this is a sad reflection on the state of the honey bee:

There are Varroa mites, and other pests that infest just about every single colony, where they weaken the bees’ immune systems.

There’s a range of viral, bacterial and fungal diseases.

There are also questions marks over new pesticides, as well as problems with poor diet.

Perhaps the main problem is the lack of research, which means there’s no definite answer as to what’s causing this decline.

Until recently, Defra’s research budget was just 200 thousand pounds – despite the economic contribution of the bees being worth ten times this amount.

Yes, Defra’s recent increase in funding is welcome, as is the ten year strategy that the Welsh Assembly Government has signed up to, but it’s a shame that it’s taken so long for action to be taken, and that there’s no guarantee as to how much of this money will be spent on honey bee research, instead of other pollinators.

Those involved in beekeeping aren’t short of ideas for turning situation around, and as a farmer, I’m happy to say that the industry is responding - the Cooperative retail group, for example, is encouraging its farmers to establish new hives and plant wild flowers, as well as letting consumers know about the importance of honey bees.  They, and other organisations, are providing funding for much-needed research.

With the price of fertiliser as it is, more farmers will be returning to traditional crops that can support bees. I can remember when cereals were under-sown with red clover… and in the following year we’d have fields full of colour and bees.

It was encouraging that on a recent trip to IBERS, myself and other Members were shown the latest advances in plant breeding – red clover that can live much longer than its normal 2 years.

It’s regrettable that with modern agriculture, this plant hasn’t been as fashionable… but more farmers are coming round to the benefits of planting legumes – and this can only be good news for bees, as is the research that’s underway at Sussex University – to breed bees that clean themselves, and get rid of pests.

As well as this, there’s the start of a more concerted effort to get in touch with the thousands of amateur beekeepers to keep track of diseases, and spread good practice for husbandry – something picked up by the National Audit Office in their own recent report, but I have a serious concern that the fruits of this research may not come soon enough.

The Government has had an appalling track record on biosecurity over the last decade, and if the IAPV virus – which is thought to be a major contributor to Colony Collapse Disorder – makes it to Britain, then the honey bee population will be in for a massive setback.

The price of this neglect is already being paid by beekeepers - many of whom have been giving up altogether after losing their colonies in recent years.

If honey bees don’t get sustained support – for long-term improvements – in communicating with beekeepers, and dedicated research, as well as work to cut the costly red tape that, for example, forces beekeepers to treat caster sugar as a veterinary medicine, then the consequences of this inaction will be all too obvious, and the countryside, the rural economy and all of mankind will be vastly poorer for it.