Safeguarding the genetic diversity of the honey bee

"Pollinators play an essential role in our food system, with an estimated three quarters of crops depending on them. Yet, due in part to the impacts of intensive farming practices, their numbers are in decline. Here, beekeeper and Chair of the Bee Improvement and Bee Breeders Association, Jo Widdicombe, looks at the issue of genetic diversity and why it is critical to safeguarding the future of one of our key crop pollinators – the honey bee.

In the last 50 years, we have seen a decline in many insect populations including some bumble bee and solitary bee species. In 1992, the varroa mite was found to have reached Britain and the number of honey bee colonies and beekeepers declined rapidly. After a campaign by British Beekeepers Association (BBKA) and others, highlighting the plight of the honey bee, the number of beekeepers and colonies started to rise again. Some have suggested that the increase in honey bee numbers has impacted on other insect species causing a decline through competition, but insect numbers were declining long before honey bee populations started to rise again.

The issue of available forage is an important one for beekeeping, as well as for other pollinating insects, but it is an issue that beekeepers have very little influence over. Intensive farming techniques, the use of chemicals, the loss of habitats and the resulting reduced availability of forage, all impact on insect populations. These are all issues that sustainable agriculture, together with good management of ‘wild spaces’, may be able to address, but beekeepers also need to play their part in developing more sustainable practices."

Source: Jo Widdicombe (Jo has been a beekeeper for nearly 40 years and is Chair of the Bee Improvement and Bee Breeders Association), 11 Aug 2023, Sustainable Food Trust

Link: Safeguarding the genetic diversity of the honey bee - Sustainable Food Trust