Italy's highest administrative court on Monday rejected an appeal by three multinationals against a ban on new types of pesticides believed responsible for decimating Italy's honeybee population.
The Council of State, however, ordered the agriculture ministry to set a time limit for the ban on neonicotinoids, which began on September 20.
It also urged the ministry to review the situation on other countries facing similar problems when setting a deadline for the ban.
The Union of Italian Beekeepers (UNAAPI) warned this summer that the the mass die-off among Italian bees over the last year would cost farmers 2.5 billion euros in lost revenue in 2008.
Referring to a ''silent epidemic,'' UNAAPI said between 40% and 50% of Italy's honeybees had vanished since the start of 2007.
UNAAPI accepts that drought and disease have also played a role in the mysterious die-off but insists that the key suspect is a seed treatment using neonicotinoids, an artificial form of nicotine.
''If the dose of neonicotinoids is high the bees die and when the dose is sub-lethal the bees are unable to find their way back to the hive,'' said UNAAPI President Francesco Panella.
A number of studies have linked neonicotinoids to die-offs in bee colonies. Some have suggested the insecticide leads bees to stop feeding larvae and results in a breakdown of their navigational abilities.
Although scientific conclusions have been mixed, Germany banned the use of all neonicotinoid-based pesticides last May, while France imposed strict limits on their use on bee crops following mass die-offs in the 1990s.
The pro-technology agricultural association FUTURAGRA, however, has rejected claims that neonicotinoids are to blame and stressed that banning the new pesticides would cause serious harm to maize harvests.
Italian farmers association Coldiretti estimates that a third of all farming produce depends on insect pollination - 80% of which is carried out by bees.
If bees were to disappear it would not only destroy Italy's 25-million-euro honey industry but also affect dozens of other crops.
''Apples, pears, almonds, citrus fruits, peaches, kiwi, chestnuts, cherries, apricots, plums, melons, tomatoes, courgette, soy and sunflowers all depend entirely or in part on bees,'' it said recently.
''But bees are also vital for meat production, given their important role in pollinating fodder''.
