There will be bitterness and bewilderment as Oxfordshire beekeepers gather this weekend for their annual honey show, writes REG LITTLE. Instead of sweet reunions with friends, many will be anxiously looking around to see just how many old faces are missing.

The beekeepers who do make it on Sunday for the Oxfordshire Beekeepers' Association show at Finmere Village Hall, near Bicester, will have good cause to count themselves as survivors.

The wet spring and summer delivered cruel blows. But the real cause of their misery is a tiny mite from Asia, that seems to have British beekeepers at its mercy.

Even for those lucky enough to be taking part in weekend's honey competitions, there will be a sting in the tail. Many amateur keepers will be contemplating big hive losses. Those who have already left hives to die out, say they cannot face replacing their bees - the extra work and vigilance now required to counter the mite have simply taken the pleasure from their hobby. The mite that has been causing such devastation to Britain's bee population is the Varroa. Its natural host is the Asian honey bee, which has developed its own defences. European bees and beekeepers are sadly less well equipped to deal with this blood-sucking parasite.

The first outbreak in Britain was discovered in 1992 at Torbay, Devon. It is now accepted that the parasite cannot be eradicated, at least within the lifetime of most of our beekeepers, already it has practically wiped out the county's wild bee populatio.

Even highly experienced professional beekeepers like Geoffrey Burroughs have struggled to keep the mite at bay. "This is always going to be with us and the mite is the reason that amateur beekeeping is in decline.

"Honey sales, where people buy from over the village gate are disappearing fast. Now beekeeping is about good husbandry and trying to keep ahead of any build up in the mite population."

For two years, Mr Burroughs, 51, of Halcyon Honey Farm, Charlbury, has been conscientiously treating his colonies after finding hundreds of the pin-head sized mites in the bottom of combs.

He can well understand why many amateurs have been forced to give up. Mr Burroughs said it is now necessary to carry out regular inspections of the drone brood, the young larvae bees. In recent weeks many keepers have been applying the chemical bayvarol, which is not only expensive but has to be applied carefully to avoid contaminating honey. Earlier this month, members of Wantage and district association had to cancel competitive classes. Vice-President Jim Mein, 82, of Rowstock, Harwell, said: "There was some honey for sale but for the first time since the association was formed more than 20 years ago, there was no competition class."

Mr Mein used to produce between 200lb and 300lb of honey a year. "I now get only 30lb from one hive. The whole of England now has the mite in every hive."

Oxfordshire association chairman Ian Gourlay, of Stonesfield, said: "I lost about two thirds of my hives."

The crab-shaped mites which cling to the honey bee's back, had a similar impact as Aids on the human body.

If the mites are not killed, the mites leave weakened bees vulnerable to viruses. The disappearance of the wild bee population may have actually helped. Mr Burroughs said: "When the wild colonies were becoming weaker our own bees went in to rob the hives.

They then became contaminated themselves and then brought the problem back. But the wild colonies are gone." The implications of a big decline in Britain's bee population will extend far beyond the price of British-produced honey. Orchards and fruit farms in southern England are beginning to see a drop in yield and quality because of the fall-off in pollination.

The impact will also be felt by oil seed rape farmers, as well as ordinary gardeners growing crops like onions and runner beans. American and German researchers have been trying to develop honey bees with stronger jaws, who could protect themselves like the Asian honey bee, Apis Cerana.

The idea of scientifically developed super bees will all seem to belong to another world as Mr Gourlay and his friends gather at the weekend to judge their bees' wax, mead and honey cakes.

But then who could have guessed that honey production, that most pure and traditional of hobbies, could have left so many with such a bitter taste.

FIVE FACTS ABOUT BEES

*Jed Shaner was covered by a mantle of 343,000 bees weighing 36.3kg or 80lb at Staunton, Virginia, USA,on June 29, in 1991

*About 20,000 species of bees are known, 240 of them in Britain

*Honey bees have been semi-domesticated for several thousand years

*A queen, 500 to 1,000 drones and up to 60,000 worker bees make up a hive of honey bees

*Smoke makes bees temporarily lose the desire to sting but in some very vicious colonies smoke has little or no effect

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