If it were a novel, people would criticize the plot for being
too far-fetched – thriving colonies disappear overnight without
leaving a trace, the bodies of the victims are never found. Only
in this case, it’s not fiction: It’s what’s happening to fully a
third of commercial beehives, over a million colonies every
year. Seemingly healthy communities fly off never to return. The
queen bee and mother of the hive is abandoned to starve and die.
Thousands of scientific sleuths have been on this case for the
last 15 years trying to determine why our honey bees are
disappearing in such alarming numbers. “This is the biggest
general threat to our food supply,” according to Kevin Hackett,
the national program leader for the U.S. Department of
Agriculture’s bee and pollination program. Until recently, the
evidence was inconclusive on the cause of the mysterious “colony
collapse disorder” (CCD) that threatens the future of beekeeping
worldwide. But three new studies point an accusing finger at a
culprit that many have