Environment

Mystery Bee Disappearances Sweeping U.S.

by clorenz1 | February 26, 2007 at 02:10 pm

2189 views | 24 Recommendations | 3 comments

This is a remarkable statement, "

An estimated 14 billion U.S. dollars in agricultural crops in the United States are dependent on bee pollination."

It is a good way to put it into perspective how priceless our bee friends are to not only the economy, but our world as a whole. Where would we be without the birds and the bees?

In October Hackenberg had delivered honeybees to a Florida farm to pollinate crops. The bees typically return to their boxed hives when their work is done. But this time was different.

"I came to pick up 400 bee colonies and the bees had just flat-out disappeared," Hackenberg said. "There were no dead bees, no bees on the ground, just empty boxes."

"In almost 50 years as a beekeeper, I've never seen anything like it."

0 See all footage | View Slideshow

Share: email story | add to any | Digg | facebook | stumbleupon

recommend This comment thread is now closed

Actual News Geezer

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 14:42 on February 26th, 2007

...has been tearing out what little remains of his hair over the sufferings of his "girls," as he calls his bees.

Lots of problems. Thanks for the story.

jordan

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 16:11 on February 27th, 2007

At NowPublic, this is high praise from NowPublic editors! I may be violently allergic to the little SOB's, but I understand the role they play in nature.

Your story is now on the home page for awhile, and everywhere else the “good stuff” box shows up. Many thanks for your great work.