Honey bees in solar parks could boost agriculture by ‘millions of pounds a year’

Strategic deployment of bee hives could provide pollination services while making the most of land already in use – it’s a win-win – writes Harry Cockburn

Honey bees living on solar farms could bring major benefits to farmers, researchers say (Getty)

British agriculture could receive a boost worth millions of pounds a year if thousands of honeybee hives were located in solar parks across the country, scientists have said.

Rising demand for solar power as the UK targets growth in clean energy ahead of its legally-binding 2050 net zero plan, has seen the expansion of large grassy parks covered with solar panels, many of which are situated close to areas of intensive agriculture.

A team of researchers from Lancaster University and the University of Reading said these parks present a unique opportunity for bringing about further environmental and economic benefits, and have quantified the potential benefits and costs of installing honeybee hives on these solar parks across the UK for the first time.

Dr Alona Armstrong, senior lecturer at Lancaster University and lead author of the study, said: “Managing solar parks for honeybees can have positive impacts on crop yields and thus financial returns.

“But, it is important to consider the suitability on a site by site basis given the potential implications for wild pollinators and the benefits of managing sites for biodiversity more broadly.”

Professor Simon Potts from the University of Reading and co-author of the paper said: “Our study demonstrates how multi-disciplinary research can find novel land management practices which can simultaneously benefit energy producers, farmers, beekeepers and consumers.”

The team noted that many of solar parks are located in close to farms, but also in regions where many wild pollinator habitats have been lost or degraded.

The honeybee hives would therefore provide “ready-made armies” which could undertake a pollinating service to increase crop production in surrounding farmland.

Although some honeybee hives have already been located on some solar parks, the potential economic benefits of this were, until now, unknown.

The research team mapped the locations of solar parks and examined crop distribution and rotations.

They then used existing data on honeybee hives, crop pollination requirements and crop values to make the assessment.

They also factored in the cost of installing and managing the honeybee hives on the solar parks.

Using crop distribution patterns in 2017, the researchers found that deploying honeybees on solar parks could have raised the value of crop yields that year to the tune of £5.9m.

The study looked at crops such as field beans, linseed and oilseed, top fruits such as apples and pears including varieties to make cider and perry, as well as soft fruits such as strawberries, raspberries and blackcurrants.

The findings showed that in England the crop that would potentially benefit the greatest from installing honeybee hives is oilseed, because it is so widely cultivated. Though soft fruits, and especially strawberries, would see the greatest economic benefit per land area given their high market value and relatively high dependency on honeybee pollination.

Based on 2017 data then honeybees on solar parks could boost field crop yields by £2.6m, top fruits by £1.3m, and soft fruit yields by £1.9m.

There were also regional patterns in the findings with values being highest in the east and south of England because those are the areas where a greater proportion of oilseed and soft fruits are grown.

They also found that, if taken to the extreme of all UK crops being grown within a 1.5km honeybee foraging radius of solar parks around the UK, then this could boost the value of those crop yields by £80m a year – but researchers recognise this scenario is unlikely to occur.

The researchers cautioned that the suitability of placing honeybee hives on solar parks needs to be assessed carefully in each case.

As well as checking the suitability of neighbouring crop types, “great care needs to be taken to ensure the honeybees would not be competing with already established wild pollinator species”, the team said.

Where possible, encouraging greater levels of wild pollinators would provide greater ecological benefits than installing honeybee hives, they added.

The researchers’ findings will help inform energy policy, future business cases for future solar parks, as well as informing sustainable investments and decisions about including honeybee hives into energy and land management.

The research is published by the journal Biological Conservation.