A recent report by Corbet, Williams and Osborne expressed concern that changes in land use and beekeeping practice within the European Community (EC) were resulting in a shortage of bees for crop and wild flower pollination. It also highlighted the need for reliable statistics on apiculture and on the pollination practices of beekeepers in the EC to enable appropriate agricultural and environmental policies and co-ordinated research programmes to be developed to ensure adequate pollination in the future.