Over the last couple of weeks, I have received a large number of emails on the importance of protecting the UK's bee population.
I agree with those who have contacted me that this is an important issue and I would like to set out some of the steps the Government is taking to respond to the concerns raised by this campaign.
It is clear that pollinators such as bees play a crucial role in relation to food security and sustaining the natural environment.
The Government is considering a range of evidence on the state of bees and other pollinators in order to determine what action is required. Ministers will move quickly to consider the implications of the new scientific and technical evidence when it is available, and will act on this information.
Independent experts have advised that there is a lack of experimental evidence that bees may face potentially harmful exposure to neonicotinoids in field conditions. Ministers have therefore asked the researchers to prioritise the completion of the field research they are carrying out on bumble bees. These findings will be considered by the independent Advisory Committee on Pesticides in due course.
This will be completed early in 2013. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has also commissioned a longer-term project to quantify the actual exposure of wild bumble bees to sub-lethal doses of neonicotinoid insecticides in UK landscapes. UK experts are actively involved in work in Europe to update the process for assessing the risks of pesticides to bees in the light of scientific developments - including the latest research.
This will include the development of a new risk assessment for bumble bees and solitary bees, alongside an updated risk assessment for honey bees.