The European Union will ban the world’s most widely used insecticides from all fields due to the serious danger they pose to bees. The ban on neonicotinoids, approved by member nations on April 27, is expected to come into force by the end of 2018 and will mean they can only be used in closed greenhouses. The plummeting numbers of pollinators in recent years has been blamed, in part, on the widespread use of pesticides. The EU banned the use of neonicotinoids on flowering crops that attract bees, such as oil seed rape, in 2013. But in February, a major report from the EU's scientific risk assessors concluded that the high risk to both honeybees and wild bees resulted from any outdoor use because the pesticides contaminate soil and water. The ban has widespread public support, but pesticide manufacturers and some farming groups have accused the EU of being overly cautious and suggested crop yields could fall. For the full story, visit https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/apr/27/eu-agrees-total-ban-on-bee-harming-pesticides.