////"HONEY – IT'S GOOD NEWS AT LAST!
*3.5 million pounds of honey harvested this summer for the nation's tea tables by amateur beekeepers
*50 per cent increase in the number of bee colonies in the last six months
*four times the value of BBKA members' honey harvests goes to the economy through pollination
*5,000 members of the public sign up to lend their support as 'armchair' beekeepers ////

Well, that IS good news. But a 50% increase in 6 months doesn't mean a lot. It will have to be sustained over a much longer period of time--several years. But it looks like Britain has raised a lot more awareness of the problem than the US. It looks like many people in Britain are giving beekeeping a try whereas it doesn't seem as enthusiastic in America. But then the British have probably always been more keen on beekeeping--after all, what did Sherlock Holmes do after he retired from investigating?

But anyway I'm glad to hear Britain may be rebounding because the forecast was that their honey industry might bite the dust in 2010. If that happened, it would be an unprecedented tragedy too scary to think about.