Another insecticide has been found to be extremely dangerous for honeybees.
Earlier this month, The European Commission approved a two-year ban on all products containing neonicotinoids because of their potentially harmful effect on bees. Now, the European Food Safety Authority says it has found that the insecticide fipronil poses what it calls "a high acute risk to honeybees when used as a seed treatment for maize".
Neonicotinoid products are widely available for domestic use but following a campaign by Friends of the Earth many retailers have removed them from their shelves ahead of the ban, which comes into force this December. Amongst them are B&Q, Wilkinson, Homebase, Wickes, The Garden Centre Group, Dobbies, Klondyke, Notcutts, Scats, Squires, Blue Diamond, Hillier and The Garden Store.
However, there is no indication that the finding on fipronil, made by BASF, will affect products on sale in garden centres and hardware stores.
Responding to this week's judgement by the EFSA's judgement, FoE's senior nature campaigner, Paul de Zylva, said: "Once again, a widely-used chemical that was previously thought safe is found to be risking the health of our bees.
"This is further evidence that testing is not rigorous enough. How many more products used on our crops and in gardens are putting bees in danger? We need a bee action plan now to address all threats to bees."