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, North Yorkshire.

History

In the 1950s, Bee Health was the responsibility of the National Agricultural Advisory Service (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 30,674 in the 2021 census, while the population of the civil parish was 31,128. Harpe ...

and Trawsgoed. These merged in 1979 to form the National Beekeeping Unit at Luddington, Warwickshire. 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 Sand Hutton, 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 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 Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for environmental quality, environmenta ...

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

Welsh Government The Welsh Government ( ) is the Executive (government), executive arm of the Welsh devolution, devolved government of Wales. The government consists of Cabinet secretary, cabinet secretaries and Minister of State, ministers. It is led by the F ...

) 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, from ) is the maintenance of bee colonies, commonly in artificial beehives. Honey bees in the genus '' Apis'' are the most commonly kept species but other honey producing bees such as '' Melipona'' stingless bees are ...

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 mainland Afro-Eurasia. After bees spread naturally throughout Africa and Eurasia, humans became responsible for the ...

, an essential

pollinator A pollinator is an animal that moves pollen from the male anther of a flower to the female carpel, 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 ...

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

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only 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 foun ...

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