Bee strain

• Large numbers of bees are imported into the UK annualy.
  
• Imports are available early in the year, are comparitively cheap and some believe that certain non-native strains may produce a higher yield of honey per colony.
  
• These imports have led to the introduction of non-native pests and viruses.
• Imported bees are non-native strains, such as Italian, Caucasian and Carniolan.
• Non-native strains threaten the few remaining colonies of native bees, with most of the bees in the UK now being hybrids.
• Cross breeding can result in very aggressive bee colonies.
• Our native bee, Apis Mellifera Mellifera, is native for a reason - their ability to remain healthy in our climate. Urgent action is required to addrees the critically low numbers of native colonies which survive.
  

Bees Before Profit are establishing then means of identifying and breeding native honeybees, which require less "management" than non-native species. We aim to demonstrate the advantages of the native bee to both hobbyist and commercial beekeepers.