The National Bee Unit (NBU) runs Bee Health Programmes in England and Wales. The NBU consists of around 60 field-based Bee Inspectors and staff based in

Sand Hutton Sand Hutton is a village and civil parish which forms the larger part of the Claxton and Sand Hutton grouped parish council, in the Ryedale district of North Yorkshire, England, about north-east of York. History The village is mentioned in t ...

, North Yorkshire.

History

In the 1950s, Bee Health was the responsibility of the

National Agricultural Advisory Service ADAS is a UK-based independent agricultural and environmental consultancy and provider of rural development and policy advice. ADAS provides independent science-based research, consultancy and contracting services to a wide range of organisat ...

(NAAS), with units in

Harpenden Harpenden () is a town and civil parish in the City and District of St Albans in the county of Hertfordshire, England. The population of the built-up area was 30,240 in the 2011 census, whilst the population of the civil parish was 29,448. Har ...

and

Trawsgoed Trawsgoed (Welsh for "Crosswood") is both a community and an estate in Ceredigion, Wales. The estate is southeast of Aberystwyth, and has been in the possession of the Vaughan family since 1200.

. These merged in 1979 to form the National Beekeeping Unit at

Luddington, Warwickshire Luddington is a small village and civil parish in the English county of Warwickshire. The population in 2001 was 457, increasing to 475 at the 2011 Census. It is located about 5 kilometres (3 miles) outside the town of Stratford-upon-Avon on t ...

. The NBU joined the

Central Science Laboratory The Central Science Laboratory (CSL) was an executive agency of the UK government branch, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). It is now part of the Food and Environment Research Agency, which is in turn part of DEFRA. ...

in 1991 and relocated to

, North Yorkshire in 1996, changing its name to the National Bee Unit. In 2009 the

merged with other UK Government agencies to form The Food and Environment Research Agency (FERA), which was established to support and develop a

sustainable food A sustainable food system is a type of food system that provides healthy food to people and creates sustainable environmental, economic and social systems that surround food. Sustainable food systems start with the development of sustainable agr ...

chain and a healthy natural environment. on 1 April 2014 The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), formerly known as the Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency (AHVLA), an executive agency of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA)was expanded by adding parts of the Food and Environment Research Agency (FERA).This included the National Bee Unit.

Function

The unit functions on behalf of the

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for environmental protection, food production and standards, agriculture, fisheries and rural communities in the United K ...

(as part of nimal and Plant Health Agency (APHA)and the

Welsh Assembly Government Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...

) It does not cover Scotland or Northern Ireland. A programme of research and development underpins the National Bee Unit's work and feeds back through advice to the

beekeeping Beekeeping (or apiculture) is the maintenance of bee colonies, commonly in man-made beehives. Honey bees in the genus '' Apis'' are the most-commonly-kept species but other honey-producing bees such as ''Melipona'' stingless bees are also kept. ...

industry and the policy divisions in England and Wales. It runs BeeBase, a website designed to help monitor and control the spread of serious honey bee pests and diseases.

Role

The role of the National Bee Unit is to protect the

honey bee A honey bee (also spelled honeybee) is a eusocial flying insect within the genus ''Apis'' of the bee clade, all native to Afro-Eurasia. After bees spread naturally throughout Africa and Eurasia, humans became responsible for the current co ...

, an essential

pollinator A pollinator is an animal that moves pollen from the male anther of a flower to the female stigma of a flower. This helps to bring about fertilization of the ovules in the flower by the male gametes from the pollen grains. Insects are the maj ...

of crops and wild plants, and to support the beekeeping industry through: * controlling serious

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

pests and diseases to minimise the economic and environmental impact. * advising beekeepers on the recognition and control of pests to make the industry more self-sufficient. * minimising the risk of importation of exotic pests and diseases and managing the risks should an incursion take place.

References

Sources

{{cite report, title=Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs : the health of livestock and honeybees in England, date=2009, publisher=National Audit Office, location=London, isbn=978-0-10-295465-4, ref= {{Harvid, NAO, 2009

External links