To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what additional work he has recently commissioned into the effects of the neonicotinoids pesticides (a) clothianidin, (b) imidacloprid and (c) thiametoxam on honeybees.

We have the following projects under way in this area:

PS2370 Interpretation of pesticide residues in honeybees

This aims to assess the pesticide residue levels in apparently healthy UK honeybee colonies in urban and rural environments to determine if there is any clear correlation between the presence of pesticides and the disease status in those colonies.

PS2376 Evaluation of procedures to improve estimates of exposure of pollinators to neonicotinoid insecticides

This aims to access the feasibility of determining the exposure of pollinators by measuring the levels of neonicotinoids in various media. This includes pollen and nectar from oilseed rape, pollen and nectar fed to their young by pollinators such as honey, bumble and solitary bees and measuring levels in other pollinators like hoverflies.

Further information about these and previous projects in this area can be found online at:

http://randd.defra.gov.uk/

The Insect Pollinators Initiative, which is part-funded by government, is also undertaking a project to look at neonicotinoids: ‘An investigation into the synergistic impact of sub-lethal exposure to industrial chemicals on the learning capacity and performance of bees’. This work is examining whether chronic exposure to chemicals used to control mites, combined with exposure to agricultural pesticides, could affect foraging, navigation and communication in bees.

We are currently considering what further work is needed in this area, and any changes needed to existing work in the light of impending EU restrictions.