EU upholds pesticide ban to protect bees

A top European Union court yesterday upheld the ban on three insecticides blamed for killing off bee populations, dismissing cases brought by chemicals giants Bayer and Syngenta.

Clothianidin, imidacloprid and thiamethoxam were partially banned by the EU in 2013, but the bloc has since taken more drastic action after a major report on the chemicals by the European Food Safety Authority.

Bees have been dying off in recent years from “colony collapse disorder,” a scourge that has been blamed partly on the use of pesticides.