Meridian Pesticides

Video. Pesticides used by farmers in the past have often had one big drawback, they haven't been very kind to bees which are so vital in pollination.

But now University researchers are testing out a new pesticide which may be much less harmful. And they're getting it from a strange, and scary, source.

Derek Proud reports.

A Kent farmer has been fined £3000 for storing and using an illegal pesticide that was sprayed on a crop of pears. David Lewis Stevens, from Sittingbourne, used Amitraz on the fruit despite the substance being banned in the UK since 31 December 2007. It was found at Elm Farm, in Lower Halstow,