Are honey bees protected

No bees have Protected Species status in the UK. But they are so vital to our biodiversity and ultimately to our ability to produce food that many believe that they should be offered some form of protection.

'Protected Species' are as designated by the Wildlife and Countryside Act (WCA) 1981 and in the case of insects by Schedule 5 of the Act. Neither honey bees, bumble bees or any other species of bee is included in the schedule.

Section 74 of the Countryside and Rights of Way (CRoW ) Act 2000 and Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act (2004) list a number of bees that are deemed of importance for the conservation of biodiversity and place certain conservation obligations on public bodies although this does not afford the bees themselves protection.

Likewise, the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN ) Red List of endangered species does not list any UK bees.

Cases involving prosecution of UK persons found to have killed bee nests have invariably been related to the misuse of poisons or health and safety.