Campaigners for environmental organisation Friends of the Earth have protested outside the Chelsea Flower Show over the use of pesticides which recent research has shown are contributing to the decline in bee numbers.

Friends of the Earth last month launched its campaign ‘The Bee Cause’ to highlight the effects neonicotinoid pesticides are having on bee populations. The group commissioned research from the University of Reading which revealed the loss of bees from British agricultural land would carry a much greater cost than had previously been appreciated.

The report’s release coincided with several other studies from Europe and North America which gave similar findings. Worryingly, the Reading researchers found that between 2005 and 2010, pesticide use in the UK increased by 6.5 per cent. They put this down to increasing acreage given over to oilseed rape production.

In their report, 'The Decline of England's Bees,’ the researchers state that insecticide use has increased on crops usually pollinated by bees, which they said potentially increases the threat posed to them.

The report also shows that two British bumblebee species have become extinct, solitary bees have declined in over half the areas where they were studied and in managed honey bee colonies numbers fell by 53 per cent between 1985 and 2005. 

In response to its research, the environmental group called on Prime Minister David Cameron to introduce a Bee Action Plan last month, which would include targets for reducing pesticides and suspending use of chemicals thought to contribute to bee deaths, promoting bee conservation in planning decisions and funding farmers to support bees through planting bee friendly habitats.

Although agchem companies that manufacture the pesticides claim that loss of habitat and disease are affecting bees more than modern pesticides, which they assure are less harmful to bees than older preparations, studies are still published with alarming regularity linking commonly used chemicals with adverse effects including colony collapse disorder and a reduction in the number of queens produced by a colony.

Late last month, a group of fourteen organisations, including the Pesticide Action Network, wrote to Defra secretary Caroline Spelman calling for the suspension of neonicotinoid pesticides.

Paul de Zylva, Nature Campaigner at Friends of the Earth, said, "As well as an overdue investigation into the impact of pesticides on bees, the Government must make urgent changes to the way we plan our towns and cities and farm our countryside so we can reverse their decline. To save our economy billions and give bees the best chance, David Cameron must commit to a National Bee Action Plan."

Friends of the Earth campaigners in bee suits appeared at the Chelsea Flower Show over the weekend to publicise the organisation’s latest campaign.

A display showcasing British fruit, vegetables, flowers and plants by Waitrose and the NFU this year won a gold medal at the Chelsea Flower Show, marking the sixteenth year in a row the designer, Penny Riley has been honoured at the show.

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