Thanks everyone for your comments.
It’s a very involved subject. We know agricultural pesticides and herbicides can contribute to bee deaths although of late there is no physical evidence in the UK. Unfortunately these chemicals can be found in beeswax, in organic products and most foods we eat. Lettuce is supposed to be one of the worst. (If you like lettuce, buy the enclosed varieties as chemicals are less likely to penetrate the inner leaves.) As some beeswax is recycled there could be a build-up of residues over time. I am helping to run an organic trial for a PHD student where an organic frame of wax has been inserted into one of my untreated colonies. Next year this frame will be sent off for analysis.
If farmers did not use any chemicals there will be only one alternative “GM” in the UK. Open Field trials were running on wheat at a UK Research station last year so this is already controversial in itself.
Before signing up to all these campaigns (we have to tread very carefully) we have to make government bodies aware but not so that we jeopardize this delicate situation and make matters worse. We could end up with even a greater problem if some of these chemicals are banned.
Update: New research this year has now confirmed links between some fungicides and pesticides to increased risk of Nosema ceranae in honey bees. In combination with some pesticides causes symptoms similar to CCD where forager bees leave the hive never return. This has been demonstrated in the field by German researchers, where bees navigational abilities using memory are affected.