Image caption A parasite which targets the insects is set to flourish in northern Europe if the Earth continues to warm, the study says

Climate change threatens the survival of the UK's honey bee population, according to research by scientists at Queen's University, Belfast.

An exotic parasite that targets the insects is set to flourish in northern Europe if the Earth continues to warm, the study says.

It assessed the future threat posed by the gut parasite Nosema ceranae.

The parasite originated in Asia, but can now be found worldwide.

New evidence of the parasite's superior competitive ability and the link between its population size and climate change has been published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

Co-author of the study and adjunct reader at Queen's School of Biological Sciences, Professor Robert Paxton, said: "This emerging parasite is more susceptible to cold than its original close relative, possibly reflecting its presumed origin in east Asia.

"In the face of rising global temperatures, our findings suggest that it will increase in prevalence and potentially lead to increased honey bee colony losses in Britain."

Co-researcher Myrsini Natsopoulou, from the Martin-Luther-Universitat Halle-Wittenberg in Germany, said: "Our results reveal not only that the exotic parasite is a better competitor than its original close relative, but that its widespread distribution and patterns of prevalence in nature depend on climatic conditions too".