Parasites Kill Off A Third of Britain's bees
Honeybees are being killed off in huge numbers by parasites, threatening the crucial pollination of crops.
A record one in three of the 240,000 hives in Britain did not survive the spring and the main cuplrit is the varroa mite.
The mites feed on the blood of honey bees weakening adults and deforming their young.
Other causes of the decline include bad weather and pesticides.
Honey bees pollinate about a third of our home grown food crops aand that , along with the honey they make, mesans they contribute £165m to the UK economy.
Albert Einstein once gave warning that if bees disappeared, man would have only four years left. - A book out this year - "A World without Bees" found that they are dying off across the globe. One cause, a virus called Colony Collapse Disorder, has hit 36% of US hives and spread to Italy, France and Germany.
The Govt. closed its consultation into honeybee health yesterday (28th August 2008) but most people invoved in the industry want more money spent on research, presumably before it's too late.
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