The Scottish government will this week launch a new programme to help beekeepers protect the £2.25 million honey industry by giving bees antibiotics to kill off infections.

The drugs should help halt the spread of European Foul Brood, which has so far infected 232 hives in Inverness, Moray, Perth and Angus. Beekeepers have expressed fears that it could infect thousands more and ruin Scotland’s beekeeping industry.

The drugs may not save badly-infected colonies, and they are ineffective against the disease’s more virulent cousin, American Foul Brood, which has been found in 110 Scottish hives.

But the Cabinet secretary for rural affairs and the environment, Richard Lochhead, is still upbeat about the new move. “Honey bees play a vital role in keeping our natural environment healthy,” he told the Sunday Herald.

“As well as being food producers in their own right they also pollinate a number of other fruits and plants and help maintain nature’s balance.”

According to Lochhead, the government was taking action to ensure the survival of a key species and protect the honey industry.

“This scheme offers a sweet future for our bees, our bee keepers and farmers and a vital part of Scotland’s food industry,” he added.

The programme will be funded by the Scottish government and is to be undertaken by bee farmers on a ­voluntary basis. The costs could be in the tens of thousands of pounds.

European Foul Brood is a bacterial infection that attacks the guts of honey bee larvae, causing them to starve and rot. Under law, it has to be reported to the authorities.

The latest outbreak in Scotland was detected in June. In severe cases, hives have to be destroyed, but mild ­infections can be treated by feeding bees drugged sugar.

The government’s antibiotics programme was given grudging approval by Alan Teale, president of Scottish Beekeepers Association. “It is unfortunate that we are in a position where such a programme is required,” he said.

“This wouldn’t have happened if we’d had a proper bee inspection service. And it should be stressed that this is only a stop-gap measure.”

Teale pointed out that the antibiotics may only suppress the infection during the winter. “It is crucial that they are followed up in the spring with formal inspections and other intensive measures,” he said.

“If they are not, this intervention may delay proper control of the outbreak, and possibly in the end, make it worse.

“This should be viewed as akin to application of a tourniquet to a severe haemorrhage. It buys time to plan and effect a definitive intervention.”