Honey Bee Health

I take the hon. Gentleman's point. Many in the farming community would point out that over the past 20 years or more, the incidence of honey bee hive death has been dramatically reduced because of changes in agricultural practice. However, it may be that additional changes since then have created some kind of cumulative effect or combined with other factors, which we need to understand. That is why it is essential for this research to take place. If there is an unintended new side effect from some kind of agricultural practice—I am sure we all hope that that is not true—we must ensure that we shine a light on it. Farmers will be the first to say that they have an interest in ensuring honey bee health, since many of their crops depend on it. They will want to understand this matter and modify their behaviour, if necessary. However, it is important not to victimise farmers and accuse them of anything unless and until we have cold, hard, scientific facts about the contributing factors. If pesticides are a factor, I am sure that farmers will want to adjust what they do. It is important for the Minister to explain what the money is to be spent on, and what the Government's intention is behind the building of BeeBase. This will not be a one-off job. Figures from the BBKA indicate that roughly 10 per cent. of the beekeeping population start or stop keeping bees in any one year, so there is a high rate of churn. The Government cannot build BeeBase as a one-off operation, as it will not be accurate. They must maintain the database, for whatever purpose it is intended, and that will not be cheap. The concern is that there might be an element of Big Brother on the horizon. At the back of the mind of someone in the Department, there might be the intention that once most beekeepers are enrolled, enrolment could become compulsory. Once it is compulsory, why should we not start charging beekeepers to register on BeeBase? That would be dangerous, because the British beekeeping population is different from that of other countries. It is not the same as in Australia, for example, where there is a smaller number of very large, industrial-scale commercial beekeeping operations. The vast majority of British bee hives are kept by small, hobbyist beekeepers, such as myself, who have two or three hives. If compulsory registration is introduced, perhaps attached to a compulsory cost, the likelihood is that the number of beekeepers and hives in this country will fall dramatically. That is important, because given the impact on bee health, honey bees in the wild are far less numerous than they used to be. A typical wild colony set up by a swarm from a beekeeper's hive will last a couple of years before it becomes vulnerable to collapse for some reason, typically varroa or a combination of parasites and infections. The number of colonies in the wild is dramatically lower than it used to be. A reduction in the number of beekeepers will have a direct and significant effect on the total number of bees kept in the British isles. It is therefore essential that the Minister provides us with more details about how the money will be spent over the next two years and tells us about the Government's ultimate intentions regarding BeeBase and registration. I know that there are others who wish to speak, so I will draw my remarks to a close. I look forward to the Minister's response to the questions that I have raised.