Numbers of the insects have declined dramatically over the past 25 years and there are fears that the use of a common type of pesticides known as neonicotinoids may be playing a role.

The UK has refused to back an EU ban on these chemicals saying their impact on bees is unclear but members of the Commons Environmental Audit Committee say this is an "extraordinarily complacent" approach.

The interview with Dr Whitney, who recently co-authored a study which revealed that plants and bees communicate using electrical signals, will be shown on the BBC News at 11.15am on BBC2 as well as the BBC1 flagship news programmes at 1pm and 6pm.

You can watch the interview on the BBC website.

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