Emma Landers, of Dittisham, writes:

Liz Truss, the environment minister, could decide to lift the ban on bee-killing pesticides for some crops this summer. What would happen to our farming industry, and our food supply, not to mention the intricate ­balance of wildlife in this most beautiful part of the country, if the bees were allowed to die? I dread to think.

An article in The Guardian said: ‘The honeybee is the most important commercial ­pollinator, globally responsible for pollinating at least 90 per cent of commercial crops.’

Pesticides, called neonicotinoids, including products such as Imidacloprid, which are banned across Europe because they are responsible for killing our bees, could be allowed in Britain.

For the third time this year the pesticide companies are applying to our government to lift the ban so they can go ahead with their lethal ­practices.

It is imperative that we make sure this does not happen.

The article continues: ‘Comparing the pesticide usage data with honeybee colony ­losses, scientists at the University of Georgia found a link between Imidacloprid usage and honeybee colony losses.’

And yet the agribusinesses still want us to believe they are safe.

And it not just honeybees: bumblebees, solitary bees and other pollinators such as ­hoverflies, butterflies and moths – all are in decline.

A report by the European Academies Science Advisory Council says that ‘acute lethal or sublethal effects’ have also been found on insects such as ladybirds, lacewings, predatory mites, ground beetles and ­parasitoid wasps, which help controls pests; that earthworms are also ‘sensitive to neonicotinoids’; and that birds, too, can be affected.

For more information, visit www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/11523469/Stinging-­verdict-on-bee-killers.html.

How can we make sure our environment minister is acting on behalf of our environment and not against it?