Over one hundred beekeepers and supporters, backed by a coalition of environment and sustainable farming groups have descended on Westminster on Friday morning for a 'March of the Beekeepers', in protest against the government's stance on controversial pesticides.

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The beekeepers gathered to protest the government's refusal to back a European Commission moratorium on three neonicotinoid pesticides, which the EU's health watchdog EFSA found pose health risks to bees and other insect pollinators following a review in January.

Protestors dressed in beekeeping suits and brandishing insect-pollinated fruit, vegetables and other products, were joined by celebrities including fashion designers Vivien Westwood and Katharine Hamnett.   

The marchers hope to pressure Defra chief Owen Paterson into backing the EU Commission proposals during an EU Agriculture Council meeting on Monday (29 April). Previous attempts to secure a ban have failed, as member states remain divided on the issue. Paterson abstained from voting during the last round of talks in March.

Although Defra reiterated its calls for more "scientific evidence" on Friday (the Department stated its support for a "European-wide study before making a decision" on neonicotinoids), campaigners dismissed this stance as delaying tactics. They argue that 200 peer-reviewed studies have provided evidence of harmful effects and that EFSA's advice (a ban on the use of neonicotinoids on crops attractive to bees) should be heeded.

The Crop Protection Association, which represents the industry and backs the government position, maintains that "There is no evidence that these insecticides have an adverse effect on bees in the real world. There is, however, agreement that other factors, such as disease pressure and changes in habitat, do have an impact and should be tackled."  

However, Friends of the Earth's Head of Campaigns Andrew Pendleton argued, "Ministers can't ignore the growing scientific evidence linking neonicotinoid insecticides to bee decline. Their claims to be concerned about bee health will ring hollow if they fail to back European moves to restrict the use of these chemicals. If we lose our bees and other vital pollinators it will have a devastating impact on our food, gardens and environment. We urgently need tougher pesticide restrictions and a British Bee Action Plan to tackle all the threats they face."

Dr Kieth Tyrell, Director of the Pesticide Action Network added that, while theoretically only insects doing damage to crops by eating them should be affected by lethal doses of neonicotinoids, the "tiny" sublethal doses taken up by bees and other insects that come into contact with treated crops "are cumulative and irreversible, so what we're seeing is that bees and pollinators are declining at a catastrophic rate."