Inquiry into Animal and Plant Health

Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee
Inquiry into Animal and Plant Health

Background

The UK directly imports a significant number of queens each year (Defra 2021), with the majority of these originating in Europe. Packages, colonies and queens can also be imported from mainland Europe via the Republic of Ireland to Northern Ireland. The legislative changes since Brexit have enabled Northern Ireland businesses to place goods on the GB market without having to comply with the pre-Brexit declarations, tariffs, regulatory checks or customs checks previously required for all bee imports. This has resulted in a “back door” trade of bees, with fewer statutory health inspections being undertaken due to the limited resources of DAERA (Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs – Northern Ireland), on what can only be assumed to be an equal or greater number of imports than England, Wales and Scotland received pre-Brexit.

Many of these bee imports are purchased early in the UK beekeeping season to replace overwinter losses. This demand for early season queens and packages necessitates that they are produced in areas with a warmer climate such as the Mediterranean.

Canada has recently banned the importation of bees from Ukraine, as Ukraine is unable to establish a Tropilaelaps spp. free status due to the ongoing conflict and political situation. Ukraine directly exports queens to England via border control posts (BCPs), meaning that no appointed bee inspectors examine these imports for Tropilaelaps or small hive beetle, and that surveillance for these pests only takes place if the importer correctly follows procedure and submits attendant bees and queen cages for laboratory analysis. There is little motivation for importers to follow this procedure, as the process is labour intensive and potentially damaging to the queens. There is no way for government authorities to check the origin of imported bees and cages submitted to the laboratory, and there have been instances of queen importers submitting incorrect cages and bees for laboratory analysis.

The current import arrangement allows significant scope for bee traders to circumvent inspection procedures designed to detect statutory notifiable pests. With the current political situation in Ukraine, beekeepers in the UK may be keen to support Ukrainian beekeepers by purchasing queens, and while the motivation is commendable, many beekeepers in the UK do not appreciate the risk that this poses to our bees.

EFSA’s (European Food Safety Authority) most recent assessment on the risk of entry of Aethina tumida and Tropilaelaps spp. to the EU was published in 2013. However, there have been several subsequent scientific discoveries related to Tropilaelaps spp. that indicates they are far more transmissible than previously believed. For example, T. mercedesae can survive and reproduce in colder climates (Brandorf, et al. 2024; Truong, et al. 2024) than was previously thought, can survive without brood (Robinson 2012; Chuttong, et al. 2019) on live Western honey bees (A. mellifera) and on decaying bees and brood (Gill, et al. 2024). Considering these new findings, it is questionable whether the EFSAs assessment that queens, swarms and beekeeping equipment are low risk entry pathways is accurate.

 

Key points to raise in submissions:-

  1. There is abundant evidence that exotic pests and diseases have entered the UK in the past through imports of bees. These include the parasitic mite varroa (Varroa destructor) probably consistently the greatest cause of continuing UK honey bee colony losses, which was first found in the UK in 1992, and Kashmir bee virus (Budge et al, 2015) and Israeli acute paralysis virus (IAPV) (Budge et al, 2015), both found in the UK in 2015
  1. There are currently threats to UK beekeeping through the possible introduction of the exotic pests the small hive beetle (Aethina tumida) and tropilaelaps mites (Tropilaelaps mercedesae). Since the current UK Risk Assessment for the small hive beetle (Anderson et al, 2010) was written, the beetle has become established in Europe in southern Italy (Mutinelli et al, 2014). Since the current UK Risk Assessment for tropilaelaps (Anderson and Marris, 2012) was written, the mite has become established in Europe in southern Russia (Brandorf et al, 2024) and in Georgia (Janashia et al, 2024). These areas are connected through the movement of bee colonies to other areas of Europe from where queens are produced for import into the UK. Experience shows that by the time a pest is found in a new area, it is too late to eradicate it, and it may have already inadvertently have been spread elsewhere.
  1. There is evidence that imported honey bees may bring in exotic variants of existing diseases such as chronic bee paralysis virus (CBPV), or may themselves be more susceptible to local strains of pests and diseases (Budge et al, 2020).
  1. The COLOSS genotype-environment interactions experiment (Meixner et al, 2014) and other studies have shown that locally adapted bees survive better than strains from elsewhere (Büchler et al, 2014) probably because they are adapted to the climate and to local strains of pests and diseases. Similarly, there is much evidence that exotic strains are unsuited to the UK climate (Pritchard, 2024).
  1. Imports of exotic strains harm local honey bee populations through introgression (contamination through the introduction of exotic genetic material) (Ellis et al, 2018; Buswell et al, 2024; Valentine et al, 2024) and thus hamper efforts to conserve local native Apis mellifera mellifera honey bees. There is, however, some evidence that introgression may reduce over time if fresh imports to an area cease (Buswell, 2022).
  1. Imported queens may have little or no hygienic traits against varroa, enabling large mite populations to grow in colonies, whilst diluting the bee-led adaption that is, over the thirty years that the mite has been present in the UK increasingly being seen in locally adapted honey bee populations in many parts of the UK (eg: varroaresistant.uk).
  1. There is much commercial pressure to import exotic strains of honey bee into the UK. This is based mainly on their low price and easy availability, but also on the belief that they are in some way “better” than local strains of bee. Objective evidence that exotic strains consistently behave better in terms of honey production, docility or pollination ability is, however lacking (Pritchard, 2024)
  1. The considerable risks to the UK apiculture industry of continuing imports of honey bee queens could be reduced if UK production of locally adapted queens could be increased. This could be achieved if incentives for queen rearing such as education and training could be provided through the existing Healthy Bees Plan.

SUBMIT YOUR EVIDENCE HERE

 

BIBBA gratefully appreciate the help in assembling this document from the various beekeepers who supplied the material and links.

References

Anderson, H., Cuthbertson, A.G., Marris, G., Wakefield, M. (2010) Pest Risk Analysis (PRA) for the small hive beetle, Aethina tumida (Murray) (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae). Final report of Project PH0510: Development of an evidence based risk assessment for small hive beetle to provide input for the contingency plan. Food and Environment Research Agency on behalf of UK Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. 88 pp.

Anderson, H., Marris, G. (2012) GB Non-Native Species Risk Analysis:  Tropilaelaps spp.: Tropilaelaps clareae and Tropilaelaps mercedesae. Food and Environment Research Agency on behalf of UK Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 76pp.

Brandorf, A., Ivoilova, M.M., Yañez, O., Neumann, P., Soroker, V. (2024) First report of established mite populations, Tropilaelaps mercedesae, in Europe. Journal of Apicultural Research, https://doi.org/10.1080/00218839.2024.2343976

Büchler, R., Costa, C., Hatjina, F., Andonov, S., Meixner, M.D., Le Conte, Y., Uzunov, A., Berg, S., Bienkowska, M., Bouga, M., Drazic, M., Dyrba, W., Kryger, P., Panasiuk, B., Pechhacker, H., Petrov, P., Kezic, N., Korpela, S., Wilde, J. (2014) The influence of genetic origin and its interaction with environmental effects on the survival of Apis mellifera L. colonies in Europe. Journal of Apicultural Research, 53(2): 205-214. http://dx.doi.org/10.3896/IBRA.1.53.2.03

Budge, G.E., Pietravalle, S., Brown, M., Laurenson, L., Jones, B., Tomkies, V., Delaplane, K.S. (2015) Pathogens as predictors of honey bee colony strength in England and Wales. PLoS ONE, 10(7): e0133228. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0133228

Budge, G.E., Simcock, N.K., Holder, P.J., Shirley, M.D.F., Brown, M.A., Van Weymers, P.S.M., Evans, D.J., Rushton, S.P. (2020) Chronic bee paralysis as a serious emerging threat to honey bees. Nature Communications, 11, 2164. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-15919-0.

Buswell, V. (2022). A phenotypic and genomic investigation of the identity and variation in the European dark bee (Apis mellifera mellifera). PhD Thesis, University of Plymouth, UK. 281 pp.

Buswell, V. G., Huml, J. V., Ellis, J. S., Brown, A., Knight, M. E. (2024). Whole genome analyses of introgression in British and Irish Apis mellifera mellifera. Journal of Apicultural Research, 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1080/00218839.2024.2411483

Chuttong, B., Somana, W., Burgett, M. (2019) Giant honey bee (Apis dorsata F.) rafter beekeeping in Southern Thailand. Bee World, 96(3): 66-68. https://doi.org/10.1080/0005772X.2019.1596546

Defra (2021). Bee importation – Defra in the media

Defra (2024)  Declaration of special measures: Italy. The trade in animals and related products regulations 2011 (si 2011/1197). 2 pp.

EFSA Panel on Animal Health and Welfare (AHAW) (2013). Scientific Opinion on the risk of entry of Aethina tumida and Tropilaelaps spp. in the EU. EFSA Journal, 11(3): 3128.

Ellis, J. S., Soland-Reckeweg, G., Buswell, V. G., Huml, J. V., Brown, A., & Knight, M. E.

(2018). Introgression in native populations of Apis mellifera mellifera L: implications for

conservation. Journal of Insect Conservation, 22(3-4), 377–390. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10841-018-0067-7

Janashia, I., Uzunov, A., Chen, C., Costa, C., Cilia, G. (2024) First report on Tropilaelaps mercedesae presence in Georgia: the mite is heading westward! Journal of Apicultural Science, 68(2): https://doi.org/10.2478/JAS-2024-0010

Meixner, M.D., Büchler, R., Costa, C., Francis, R.M., Hatjina, F., Kryger, P., Uzunov, A., Carreck, N.L. (2014) Honey bee genotypes and the environment. Journal of Apicultural Research, 53:2, 183-187. http://dx.doi.org/10.3896/IBRA.1.53.2.01

Mutinelli, F., Montarsi, F., Federico, G., Granato, A., Ponti, A.M., Grandinetti, G., Ferrè, N., Franco, S., Duquesne, V., Rivière, M.-P., Thiéry, R., Henrikx, P., Ribière-Chabert, M., Chauzat, M.-P. (2014) Detection of Aethina tumida Murray (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae.) in Italy: outbreaks and early reaction measures. Journal of Apicultural Research, 53(5): 569-575. https://doi.org/10.3896/IBRA.1.53.5.13

Pritchard, D. (2024) Genetic priorities for conservation of native honey bees. Northern Bee Books, UK. ISBN: 978-1-1914934-89-6 404 pp.

Robinson, W. (2012) Migrating giant honey bees (Apis dorsata) congregate annually at stopover site in Thailand. PLoS ONE, 7(9): e44976. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0044976

Scottish Government (2024) Notice of declaration of special measures: Italy. The bee diseases and pests control (Scotland) order 2007. 2 pp.

Truong, A.T., Yoo, M.S., Yun, B.R., Kang, J.E., Noh, J., Hwang, T.J., Seo, S.K., Yoon, S.S., Cho, Y.S. (2021) Prevalence and pathogen detection of varroa and tropilaelaps mites in Apis mellifera (Hymenoptera, Apidae) apiaries in South Korea. Journal of Apicultural Research, 62(4): 804-812. https://doi.org/10.1080/00218839.2021.2013425

Uzunov, A., Galea, T., Chen, C., Cilia, G., Costa, C., Mifsud, D. (2024). Apis florea in Europe: first report of the dwarf honey bee in Malta. Journal of Apicultural Research, 63(5), 1122–1125. https://doi.org/10.1080/00218839.2024.2386888

Valentine, A., Moro, A., Briggs, E., Collier, B., Sandoval, K., Binetti, C., Richardson, M., Wragg, D., Browne, K.A., Barnett, M., the Native Irish Honey Bee Society, McCormack, G.P. (2024). Introgressive hybridisation puts the distinctive population of Apis mellifera mellifera in Ireland at risk: Evidence from a multidisciplinary approach. Journal of Apicultural Research, 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1080/00218839.2024.2404297