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Wednesday, 12 November 2008 |
 The UK's leading honey brand, Rowse, this month introduces new ‘Save the Honey Bee' labelling to its Blossom Honey hero range.
The striking communication announces its commitment into research investigating the decline of the honey bee and can be seen on Rowse Blossom Honey packs and trays.
Labels encourage the public to provide their support by purchasing the Blossom Honey range where £100,000 raised from sales will be invested into sustaining the future of honey bees.
In recent years hive numbers in the UK have fallen drastically; in the 1950s, 400,000 were in existence yet present day there are only 240,000.
Reasons for the decline include a combination of poor weather conditions, disease and parasites. However, much is still misunderstood about why the honey bee population is in decline.
In August this year, Rowse Honey joined forces with major stakeholders in the UK beekeeping industry (the BBKA, BFA and NFU).
As a result of crisis talks, Rowse Honey has pledged to invest £100,000 raised from its Blossom Honey sales to Professor Francis Ratnieks and his team at the UK's leading "bee lab" based in the University of Sussex.
A bee breeding programme is currently underway at the University to develop strains of honeybee which are naturally more resistant to parasites and disease.
Professor Ratnieks comments: "Given the current problems faced by honey bees, the donation from Rowse Honey is timely and significant. Over the next three years, it will enable us to breed our native British honey bee for greater disease resistance.
"We will be able to test them with help of the Bee Farmers Association (BFA), and start providing breeder queens for British beekeepers to multiply the hygienic stock for use in their own hives."
The sales of honey in the UK grocery market is worth £81.6 million and honey bee pollination accounts for one third of all the fruit and vegetables we produce - £165 million of our total agricultural output.
The resultant impact to our food chain and economy therefore could be catastrophic if immediate action is not taken.
Stuart Bailey, Chairman of Rowse Honey, comments: "We are delighted and impressed with the work and commitment of Professor Ratnieks and Sussex University who are conducting this very necessary research.
"Rowse Honey's £100,000 will get the ball rolling, but much more needs to be spent on research. We fully support the British Beekeepers' Association campaign for £8 million of emergency funding from DEFRA over the next five years."
The Rowse Honey ‘Save the Honey Bee' labelling appears on all formats and trays of the Rowse Blossom Honey range.
The new communication is supported by a national advertising campaign in the weekend colour supplements and food magazines running from November until Christmas 2008.
Rowse Blossom Honey typically retails at £1.99 for a 454g glass jar or £1.89 for a 340g Rowse Blossom squeezable bottle and is available in Tesco, Sainsbury's, Morrisons, Waitrose and Co-op stores nationwide.
Source: Rowse
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