Joshua'll be happy.

Bee numbers on parts of the east coast and in Texas have fallen by more than 70 percent, while California has seen colonies drop by 30 to 60 percent.

According to estimates from the US Department of Agriculture, bees are vanishing across a total of 22 states, and for the time being no one really knows why.

...
The situation is so bad, that beekeepers are now calling for some kind of government intervention, warning the flight of the bees could be catastrophic for crop growers.

Domestic bees are essential for pollinating some 90 varieties of vegetables and fruits, such as apples, avocados, and blueberries and cherries.

"The pollination work of honey bees increases the yield and quality of United States crops by approximately 15 billion dollars annually including six billion in California," Brandi said.

California's almond industry alone contributes two billion dollars to the local economy, and depends on 1.4 million bees which are brought from around the US every year to help pollinate the trees, he added.

...
In cases of colony collapse disorder, flourishing hives are suddenly depopulated leaving few, if any, surviving bees behind.

The queen bee, which is the only one in the hive allowed to reproduce, is found with just a handful of young worker bees and a reserve of food.

Curiously though no dead bees are found either inside or outside the hive.

The fact that other bees or parasites seem to shun the emptied hives raises suspicions that some kind of toxin or chemical is keeping the insects away, Cox-Foster said.

Those bees found in such devastated colonies also all seem to be infected with multiple micro-organisms, many of which are known to be behind stress-related illness in bees.

Scientists working to unravel the mysteries behind CCD believe a new pathogen may be the cause, or a new kind of chemical product which could be weakening the insects' immune systems.

The finger of suspicion is being pointed at agriculture pesticides such as the widely-used neonicotinoides, which are already known to be poisonous to bees.

Another theory out there is cell phones. It's possible that cell phone radiation affects the bees' ability to navigate. They get lost and can't find their way back to their hive.

Every spring and summer we get mebbe one or two bumblebees visiting our flowers (don't recall seeing honeybees). They're really cute. Big and fat and fuzzy. And i'm always concerned for them when i see wasps or yellow jackets around. Wasps and yellow jackets are super aggressive and there seem to be so few bees around as it is, i'm afraid soon the more aggressive insects will chase them all away or kill them off. Now i have to be concerned that they can't find their way home either.

They should bee more careful? No?

They should bee more careful? No? -fnord12

Awwwww!!! Oh God! Awwwww!!!

You bee-t me to it. Damn. This will teach me not to keep up with the internet buzz.