The European Union has made a significant step in the direction of improving bee health in the EU, as Member States endorsed a Commission proposal to fund the activities of the EU reference laboratory on bee-health.

On the 2nd of May, the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health (SCoFCAH) voted in favour of a Commission proposal to provide by the end of the year about 250,000 euros to the ANSES – Sophia Antipolis lab in France. This lab has been designated as the EU reference laboratory for bee health as of April 1, 2011.

Among other things, the lab is tasked to coordinate the methods employed in the Member States for diagnosing bee diseases, to monitor bee losses, to facilitate the training of experts in laboratory diagnosis in order to harmonise diagnostic techniques throughout the Union and to perform studies and field trials to improve control of bee diseases.

Healthy bees are important both for honey production and as pollinators of plants, such as fruit trees. In recent years, an increase in bee mortality has been reported in several countries around the world. The health of bees is affected by various pathogens (bacterial, viral, parasitic, etc) and other factors (such as environmental changes and pollution).

Little is known either about the role that bee diseases play in increased bee mortality or about the interaction between diseases and other factors and how this contributes to adverse bee health effects. In order to figure out the extend of the problem and possibly what is causing bee mortality in the EU, the European Commission adopted in December 2010 a Communication to the European Parliament and the Council containing a series of specific actions to tackle the issue. The designation of a specific laboratory for bee health was one of them.

For more information, please see here.

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