madam president i speak not only as a concerned mep representing an area of england where beekeeping has economic significance but specifically as the vice-president of the cambridge beekeepers association
we have heard from all our speakers tonight about the significance and importance of this sector
honey bees are of great economic significance and ecological importance we all appreciate that
existing diseases are not fully understood and problems such as colony collapse disorder are as yet unexplained and unresolved
the uk is losing its bee population at around thirty a year and this is clearly unsustainable and potentially devastating
like many other speakers i really want to focus on the most pressing aspect of this issue the urgent need for more research both to shed light on disease issues in bee colonies and to provide us with some more concrete ideas on the way forward
we need to find long-term effective solutions to this pressing issue
could i call on the commission to sponsor through the framework programmes perhaps some additional and specific research not only on the causes of hive collapse but also on possible remedies
