"Canada's official environmental watchdog on Tuesday expressed concern that authorities were allowing the long-term use of pesticides linked to bee deaths despite not having enough information about the products.

The federal health ministry's agency responsible for pesticide regulation can grant a five-year provisional license to some products to give manufacturers time to provide more information.

Environment Commissioner Julie Gelfand said nine products had been remained conditionally registered for more than a decade, even though the agency had not gathered the data it required. Eight of the nine belong to the neonicotinoids class, which many bee keepers blame for devastating their hives."

David Ljunggren reports for Reuters January 27, 2016. [2]