Bee Specific Bee Specific Waitrose supports research into the health of the honeybee
Waitrose supports research into the health of the honeybee
Thanks to Waitrose, boffins at Sussex University are hoping to secure the long term future of the honeybee by decoding how they dance.
The retailer is donating a honey pot of £67,500 which will help fund research into the most ‘bee friendly’ landscapes and the waggle dance - a unique set of movements made by bees which reveal where they are foraging.
Dr Francis Ratnieks, the UK’s only professor of apiculture who is based at Laboratory of Apiculture and Social Insects (LASI), explains: “The waggle dance is a set of movements made by honeybees that let fellow workers know where the best food sources are. The funding for this research is vital as it will allow us to study the dance and work out how far the bees need to travel for food. We have already learnt that the longer the dance, the further away the food - so bees will be using more energy if they are not foraging near to the nest.”Alan Wilson, technical manager, agronomy at Waitrose, hopes the research will identify how farmers can help protect the species in the future:
“We want to ensure that farmers are doing everything they can to protect bees. A better understanding of the waggle dance will allow us to work with our suppliers to make sure their land is as bee friendly as possible.”
The money donated by Waitrose will support a PhD student for three years and an undergraduate Junior Research Associate Bursary for three summers. It contributes to the £750,000 already raised by LASI for honeybee research.
The University of Sussex has the biggest group of honeybee researchers in the UK and a number of studies are already underway to research pollination. This includes looking at how urban environments support bees and the impact of diseases and pests.
Working closely with LASI and the Bee Farmer’s Association, Waitrose also hope to increase the number of hives on farms and boost the availability of British honey.
VITAL STATISTICS
£166m The estimated amount of revenue that bees bring into the UK economy.
90% Honey bees pollinate 90% of our apples, 40% of our runner and dwarf beans and 30% of our pears and raspberries.
556 The number of worker bees it takes to gather the pollen from around 2 million flowers to make 1lb of honey.