The government is embroiled in another political row over bees in the UK, after being widely criticised for their decision to allow limited use of neo-nicotinoid pesticide that is hazardous to bees.

Now the Somerset Beekeepers Association has reacted to the news that the government is banning the import of bees directly into Great Britain from the EU.

Since the end of the Brexit transition period it is no longer possible to import colonies or packages of bees although the import of queen bees is still allowed. Last year, 2020, Great Britain imported over 21,000 into the country.

The chair of Stewart Gould told Nub News: " Man has played about with the perceived advantages of interbreeding livestock species for millennia, just consider the huge variety of cattle we have in the UK.

"They are bred to produce different results, whether that is meat production, milk production, ability to produce more offspring, or to withstand different weather conditions.

"The same is true of honeybees, but there are several fundamental differences. Cattle live much longer than honeybees, and their reproduction is strictly monitored.

"Furthermore, the blood line of cattle is passed down the male line, whereas in honeybees it is the queens (females) who determine the desirable properties of breeding – at least, most of the time.

"The honeybees which somebody tried to import through the 'back door' of Northern Ireland, and were mentioned in the press recently are Italian honeybees (apis mellifera ligustica) famed for their ability to build up quickly in the spring, produce lots of honey, they have a tendancy to swarm less and are mild mannered, making them easier to handle. The downside is that they don't tolerate cold winters very well.

" A queen honeybee could live up to five years, but her ability to lay eggs in, the required quantity, reduces with each year, while her urge to swarm, and set up a new home elsewhere, increases.

If the bees swarm, half the work-force have flown away, the production of honey will fall through the floor, and the new queen created by the departing bees, could, as the result of a clandestine love tryst, mate with any of the local riff raff, resulting in a totally unknown quantity.

"Apart from that, their inability to withstand cold winters means that they often die out – and have to be replaced regularly.

"Bees are largely imported for the commercial reasons given above, but as the amateur hobby increases in popularity, queens with supposed superior qualities are sold on the UK market for silly sums of money.

"Buckfast queens produced in Denmark, for instance, where the breeder claims to have bred in beneficial traits, are regularly traded for £40, which is rather a lot of money to pay for an insect. Higher sums are not unknown.

"Even if those traits are as claimed, they are only good for one generation, as second generation hybrids are famed for their aggressive natures and increased desire to swarm.

"Local honeybees have successfully bred with no help from humans, but if a beekeeper selects his best queens to make new colonies, he will most probably end up with better, locally adapted bees.

"Most importantly of all, there are pests and diseases in the countries sending these bees to the UK, which the British Government, quite rightly, wishes to prevent from entering the country. The small hive beetle is rife in parts of Italy and would cause havoc to British bee populations if it were allowed in. "

Anyone looking to import bees to the UK should check the guidance available before doing so to avoid importing prohibited material. Any packages and colonies of bees that are imported into GB from the EU would have to be returned to their original location.

The government said: " We continue to work with the beekeeping sector to support them, as well as working with the devolved administrations given that bee health is a devolved matter.

" EU member states may export bees to Northern Ireland in line with intra-Union trade rules. This means that packages and colonies may be exported to Northern Ireland provided they have been notified in advance and are accompanied by a valid health certificate.

"From 1 January 2021, all goods in free circulation in Northern Ireland qualify for unfettered access, meaning no declarations, tariffs, new regulatory checks or customs checks, or additional approvals for Northern Ireland businesses to place goods on the GB market. Direct trade from Northern Ireland to Great Britain can continue as it did before the end of the Transition Period.

"HMRC have anti-avoidance measures in place to ensure that only genuine trade between NI and GB benefits from unfettered market access. These measures will be kept under review as we plan for the next phase of the unfettered access regime which will focus the benefits on Northern Ireland businesses, to be introduced during the course of 2021. Further details will be set out in due course. "

You can read about the decision to allow neo-nicotinoid to be used by sugar beet farmers by clicking HERE : the Frome Nub news site