Vermonter Rowan Jacobsen wrote the book Fruitless Fall about colony-collapse disorder in honeybees.  My favorite quote is:

Like any livestock, healthy bees require good pasture.  And that’s what fewer and fewer bees can find.  You might say that, like us, they’re suffering from “suburban disease”: more roads, big-box stores, and developments, fewer wildflowers. (Rowan Jacobsen, Fruitless Fall 151 (2008))

Now this article suggests that scientists may be getting closer to solving the mystery of colony collapse disorder.  But while we may learn the scientific cause (e.g., virus, fungus), I think we must still address what factors might contribute to the honeybee populations inability to fight off the disease.

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