THE Government has launched a new research blitz into the mystery of rapidly falling honey bee numbers – and is asking for help from an estimated 20,000 amateur bee keepers.

Bee keeping is an important trade in North Yorkshire, because heather honey collected in the Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors is a premium product in high demand.

For some years now, Yorkshire bee hives have been hit by a parasitic disease spread by the Varroa mite but last year, a new threat was detected: colony collapse disorder, in which whole colonies of bees desert their hives and disappear.

This has become a massive problem in America, affecting an estimated on third of US bees, and reducing the pollination of millions of acres of crops like field beans and fruit.

Fearing that a similar disaster may be facing England and Wales, the environment agency Defra yesterday announced a Healthy Bees campaign with funding of £4.3 million for in-depth research.

Defra is hoping that most of the country’s bee-keepers will sign up to the scheme to provide scientists with much-needed data. Said Environment Minister Jane Kennedy launching the programme yesterday:

"Bees are just about the most hard working of insects. They help put food on our plates as they produce honey and pollinate other plants, many of which produce food themselves. We need to do all we can to safeguard their health.”

• Bee keepers are urged to sign up to a national BeeBase register. For details, see https://secure.csl.gov.uk/beebase/ or phone 01904 462510. Registration is free and provides the beekeeper with a free visit from their local bee inspector and access to a wide range of information on their craft.