Last updated 13:52, Wednesday, 03 December 2008

WHILE many world experts are predicting the demise of the honeybee, these important little insects have a group of friends in Furness working to ensure they survive and flourish again. SUSAN GOODSON reports

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THE humble honey bee is a real survivor.

Despite its numbers being decimated through disease and changes in the weather, this much loved and essential creature will come back again, defying those convinced it is on the brink of extinction.

That is the comforting opinion of beekeeper Mike Luke, a member of the Furness Beekeepers’ Association.

Although Mike, who has been a beekeeper for around four years, hasn’t seen any signs of the deadly Israeli acute paralysis virus which has hit hives in other countries, bees in Britain are suffering from an infestation of the Varroa mite, which attacks the body of the insect, as well as Colony Collapse Disorder, where bees abandon their hives for no obvious reason.

Sitting listening to Mike talking, it is obvious he takes their welfare seriously and has a real fondness for bees.

Although he says honey is a wonderful by-product of bees, he is actually interested in keeping bees and maintaining their health.

Explaining a beekeeper’s role he says: “It is our job not only to educate the public but to teach them if they want to learn about bees and to protect the bees, which is now becoming more important than it used to be.

“I have not come across the virus. The main one we worry about is the Varroa mite, which is a parasite that gets into the honeycomb itself as the bee is developing, and it lives on the bee.

“They can be controlled to a certain extent, but over the years we have seen the things we use become less and less effective.

“Even little things like icing sugar sprinkled on bees. They wipe it off themselves and each other and often wipe the parasite off as well.

“There are all sorts of old wives’ remedies coming out of the woodwork, which seem to work a bit.

“But the Colony Collapse Disorder, which I think the Americans coined the phrase, no one can explain that.

“In the summer there are about 50 to 60,000 bees in a single beehive. In the winter that goes down to about 10,000.

“When we come to a hive that has died in the spring there are 100 or so bees in the bottom – so where have the others gone?

“Personally I think it is something to do with the climate which is changing. Whether climate change itself exists I don’t know, and I am an environmentalist by degree.

“But certainly our climate has changed.

“At one time we got snow in the winter and then spring, which was warmer, and then summer. Now we tend to get 12 months of damp weather with a couple of good weeks in the middle. The rain can affect bees, but it is mainly the cold.

“They need to keep a warm temperature in the hive, so to maintain it they will often stay in and rotate in a little ball shape in the middle to protect the brood, the eggs. If they get too cold then the whole colony can die.

“If they get a nice, warm morning they think ‘ah spring is here’ and off they go, and then the weather changes rapidly and becomes cold and wet and a lot of them don’t make it back.

“To me that is a more sensible solution than just deserting a hive.”

There is also a parasite called Nosema, which beekeepers are also finding more often – it is a bit like a tummy bug for bees, Mike says.

It weakens the bees dramatically and although it can be treated with antibiotics this can then be passed on to the honey.

Mike adds: “That is not recommended, so if a hive has Nosema it will either pull itself through or not.”

But there are a lot of different viruses and sometimes it is best to destroy the colony completely so they don’t spread.

So why is Mike confident the honeybee will survive?

He explains: “As part of Furness Beekeepers’ efforts a small group of scientists is being set up this winter, and we will be trained so people can bring their bees to us to be tested. We can supply quick local results to see how healthy a colony is and perhaps spot problems earlier.

“Defra and the government do fund disease control but they are so busy and so limited that the results come back very, very slowly – it is not their fault.”

And it is thanks to the publicity of the problems facing bees and their carers that Mike feels people have become really interested in their welfare and future.

And it is easy to understand why the crisis has captured the public’s attention.

He says: “Last winter this apiary lost all but seven of its hives. But people have maintained their interest and some are actually doing quite well – but few rather than many.

“They reckon we would lose over a half to two-thirds of the world’s crops if bees were to die out. Whether that is scaremongering I don’t know.

“But after World War Two was the latest serious demise of bee colonies when they were on the verge of extinction, certainly in the UK.

“Bees are very sensitive to vibrations (bombing may have affected them) and conditions, but they came back very strongly and there haven’t been many problems since until the last few years when diseases are slightly more prevalent, and this Colony Collapse appeared from nowhere.

“But bees will come back because they have been around long, long before the Egyptians, so they will survive – it is just we need to help.”