Beekeepers are noticing a mass disappearance of bees.  Scientists believe that there may be a deadly virus spreading throughout the bee population.  Of course this could mean less honey, but it could also mean less food crops.  Agriculture depends on bees to pollinate crops.  The article states that one out of every three bites of food consumed in the US was pollinated by bees.

April 4, 2007 – Beekeeper James Doan first began finding empty hives last fall. Entire bee colonies seemed to have up and vanished, leaving their honey behind. Noting the unusually wet fall in Hamlin, N.Y., he blamed the weather. Unable to forage in the rain, the bees probably starved, he reasoned.

But when deserted hives began appearing daily, "we knew it was something different," he says. Now, at the beginning of the 2007 pollination season, more than half of his 4,300 hives are gone. "I’m just about ready to give up," says Mr. Doan from his honeybee wintering site in Ft. Meade, Fla. "I’m not sure I can survive."

continue at Christian Science Monitor

Author Information -  During his spare time Eric writes for and maintains wannaveg.com. For his day job he works for an electronics company in San Diego, CA. Eric has been a vegetarian for about 10 years and believes that going 'green' and reducing meat consumption go hand-in-hand.

Tags: bees, Interesting