Honey Bee Health

I congratulate the hon. Member for Weston-super-Mare (John Penrose) on his entertaining and knowledgeable speech. I am disappointed, however, that the BBKA will not get rich from what has been said in the debate so far. Perhaps hon. Members will now make awful puns, so that the association makes a fortune. However, so far, the hon. Gentleman's warning has had a significant effect. I congratulate him on that and on how he presented his case. The hon. Member for Norwich, North (Dr. Gibson) was right to preach caution. There has been great enthusiasm and excitement about Government funding, but we need to be cautious about what we can achieve with it. It is a long haul and a lot of ingenuity and energy will be required to achieve success. The hon. Member for Castle Point (Bob Spink) was brave in suggesting that the beekeeping associations should contribute. I am not sure how many beekeepers are in his constituency, but they may well be writing to him with their views from now on. I have every reason to detest bees—I spent most of my childhood being stung by bees owned by my father and grandfather in my back garden. I spent many hours travelling from Strathmiglo so the bees could get the benefit of the late summer heather up in the moors of Glenturret. I can reveal that after 30 miles in the back of a van, bees are not very happy. One has to learn to run extremely fast when one opens the hive. Perhaps that early training is why I enjoy running half marathons and hill races. Despite those early experiences, I have great admiration for bees: for their military discipline and incredible hard work, and for their generosity with their produce. If the Liberal Democrats had half of bees' military-style organisation, we might be sitting on the Government Benches. However, I am pleased that the Government have recognised—some say belatedly—the importance of the honey bee. That a significant sum of money has been forthcoming is great and I hope that more will be provided if it is required. It is important to recognise that the Government have made progress and that they have given the matter the necessary priority. That progress is partly owing to the success of organisations such as the BBKA and its branches. The West Fife association in my constituency is a thriving organisation. I recently went to a meeting where there were about 40 beekeepers, half of whom were new. It was encouraging that, despite the news and the gloom about the future of bees, lots of people were coming forward. Perhaps their interest is partly because of new organic lifestyles, which is good, but I hope that it is also partly because we have great confidence in the future of bees. I want to ensure that research funding recognises the special circumstances in Scotland. We heard how the special British weather has an effect on bees, but I am advised that the weather in Scotland is even more special, which influences the effectiveness of the available treatments. We do not know for sure whether there are special circumstances in Scotland, but we want to ensure that the matter is investigated. If they do exist, we hope that they are recognised in the research funding. I am glad that the Scottish Executive have given some money. I am sure that they are arguing their case to ensure that there is a special Scottish angle, but I wanted to reinforce the point. Speedy access to new medicines has not been mentioned. I understand that there are some blockages. There are always complaints from patient organisations about speedy access to new medicines and it is the same in beekeeping. Has the Minister made progress in ensuring that any new medicines that come on to the market are made available as soon as possible in the UK? On the qualifications to treat, most vets, perhaps until recently, would have laughed at the thought of treating bees. They have lots of other animals to treat, such as cats, cows and dogs, and they would never have thought about treating bees. It is important to send vets the message that they have an important role in treating bees. There are not enough vets who can do the job. We need to ensure a sufficient number of qualified people. Perhaps we could have a separate qualification of bee expert that entitled people to treat bees. The fact that registered medicines are involved might be an issue, but I would like the matter to be explored, so that we can get lots of people out there to meet the challenge. It is a big challenge, and we need lots of experts to ensure that it is properly treated. On BeeBase, it is a great thing that we have a voluntary scheme. It would be a distraction to make it compulsory. In future we might find it necessary to do so, but just now the main effort should be focused on dealing with the main problem. I do not think that a compulsory scheme would be advisable. To summarise, there are four key points. The first is priority—it is great that it has been recognised that bees are important. The second is the special circumstances in Scotland. The third is ensuring speedy access to new medicines, and the fourth is ensuring that there is a sufficient range and number of people who can treat bees in order to meet this great challenge.