Bee number losses 'increasing'

The annual survey by the British Beekeepers Association (BBKA) indicates that, after several years of falls in the numbers of colonies dying during the winter, losses have increased this year.

The BBKA's chairman, Dr David Aston, told The World At One that the rate of loss had risen from 13.6% to 16.2% but that there was "a mixed picture" across the country.

And Mike Brown from the National Bee Unit at the Food and Environment Research Agency explained to reporter Andrew Bomford how the recent bad weather has driven some of Britain's bee colonies to the point of starvation.