British bee decline in slowdown

Hooray! A slowdown in the level of decline of British bees was announced on 26 May by the British Beekeepers Association (BBKA).

Initial findings taken from the first thousand or so returns from the charity’s Winter Colonies Survival Survey showed the pace of decline had slowed from 19.2 per cent in winter 2008-2009 to 17.3 per cent in 2009-2010*.

5 ways to help bees

Bees, like people, need 5-a-day, and the widespread decline in honeybees, responsible for pollinating one third of the food we eat, may be due to a reduction in the plant life they feed on. Bees on a 5-pollen diet are healthier than those nourished only by a single plant variety, according to scientists from the French National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA).