What's Happening to Honey Bees?

Honey bees pollinate more than 90 cultivated crops, including avocadoes, cucumbers, watermelons, citrus fruit and, notably, almonds; California’s almond industry alone needs about half the country’s 2.5 million commercial hives for pollination every year. Honey bees are responsible for more than $20 billion in annual pollination value and one-third of the food we eat, from vegetables to oils to meat from animals that graze on pollinated forage.

“We’re losing between 40 and 60 percent of our bee population annually in this country,” says Gordon Wardell, an entomologist based in Tucson. “The bee industry is right on the edge.” (for complete story, click on headline)