Powys is part of a hotspot in which bee species risk contracting a deadly disease, a report from university researchers has found.

A team led by Newcastle University into the impact of climate change on Britain's bees found that higher climate temperatures increasing the risk of the most severe diseases in honey bees – and rainfall can heighten the risk of one disease that is thought to be a high risk in Powys.

Data collected from visits to over 300,000 honey bee colonies highlighted how the prevalence of six important honey bee diseases were affected by rainfall, temperature and wind.

And the study also looked at disease hotspots, and found that the risk of the damaging disease European foulbrood was higher in an area comprising Powys, Shropshire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire.

European foulbrood affects bee larvae, and can cause starvation if it gets into food. The study found that it was a disease whose risk increased with increased rainfall.

Study lead, PhD student Ben Rowland, from Newcastle University’s School of Natural and Environmental Sciences, said: “Our analysis clearly shows that the risk of a colony contracting one of the diseases we examined is influenced by the weather conditions experienced by that colony.

"Our work highlights some interesting contrasts; for example, rainfall can drive one disease to become more common whilst another will become rarer.”

Professor Giles Budge, who leads the Modelling Evidence and Policy Group at Newcastle University and was a senior author on the paper, said: “We have long known that weather can influence the ability of honey bees to leave the hive and forage for food, but to better understand how our climate can influence honey bee disease is fascinating.

"This new knowledge will help us predict how honey bee disease might be influenced by future climate change.”

This work is being completed with funding from Bee Disease Insurance Ltd and the BBSRC.