British beekeepers have expressed fears over the future of the honey bee as numbers have dwindled this year.

As well as a shortage of honey (English stocks are likely to have run out by Christmas), a lack of bees would have a knock-on effect on some of Britain’s other crops – such as apples, pears and raspberries – because the bees are responsible for 90% of the pollination.

The number of bees has dropped elsewhere – America, France and Greece have all announced heavy losses – and researchers are at a loss as to how to best combat the problem. Hundreds of British beekeepers signed a petition that was delivered to parliament earlier this month demanding more funding for research in a effort to come up with a solution. There is currently £200,000 ($309,000) set aside for bee health research, but the beekeepers are pressing for a figure closer to £1.6million.

A wet summer has contributed to the dwindling numbers, making it hard for bees to store food for the winter months, but more important has been the changes in agriculture.

Wheat prices have increased which has led to a 13% rise in British plantings and this is a problem for bees as wheat produces no nectar. The concurrent drop in oilseed rape (by around 12% according to figures released by Britain’s farm ministry) has further hindered the honey bee as this is one of their favourite feeding places.

One proposal put forward by the EU is for farmers to start planting bee-friendly flowers near wheat crops to help feed the honey bee in the hope that the bees will have a bigger presence in years to come.

Picture from Insect Identification