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As Britain's honeybee population dwindles, beekeepers call on government to urgently increase funds for research.

The dangerous parasitic varroa mite has been threatening bee numbers for some time but increasingly intensive agriculture now limits opportunities for bees to collect nectar. On top of this a wet British summer resulted in the worst honey crop on record. British beekeepers are now demanding government raise the annual research budget to 1.6 million pounds from 200,000 now.

(Reuters.com December 10, 2008)