One in three hives were lost over the last winter alone for reasons that are not clearly understood although bad weather, the use of insecticides, a lack of wildflowers and the varroa mite, which has spread rapidly since arriving in Britain in 1992, are thought to be partly to blame.

However, the majority of the bees in Britsin’s 274,000 hives are actually a subspecies which originated in southern and eastern Europe.

New research has found the native black honeybee could be better able to survive any external threats as it is better equipped to deal with the British weather.
A study by the Bee Improvement and Bee Breeders’ Association (BIBBA), backed by The Co‑Operative supermarket, found the black honeybees’ thick hair and larger body helped them to keep warm and cope with the shorter breeding season in Britain.