I see that the humble honeybee has sparked a disagreement among the EU’s lawmakers. The European Commission proposed that a number of bee protection measures which are currently guidelines be made into law.

They set out how pesticides should be tested to ensure bees are protected from both short-term (acute) and long-term (chronic) exposure.

A number of EU member states opposed the proposal and the Commission watered it down to include just acute exposure. MEPs in the parliament thought this was unacceptable and want the Commission to go back to the drawing board.

Has anyone tried asking the bees what they think?