"The list of crops that depend on honeybees is long:
almonds,
apples,
apricots,
avocados,
blueberries,
boysenberries,
cherries,
citrus fruits,
cranberries,
grapes,
kiwi,
loganberries,
macadamia nuts,
nectarines,
olives,
peaches,
pears,
plums,
raspberries,
strawberries,
asparagus,
broccoli,
carrots,
cauliflower,
celery,
cucumbers,
cantaloupe,
honeydew,
onions,
pumpkins,
squash,
watermelon,
alfalfa hay and seed,
cotton lint,
cotton seed,
legume seed,
peanuts,
rapeseed,
soybeans,
sugar beets
and
sunflowers.
"Ohio State University's state honeybee specialist, James Tew, told the Dayton Daily News, "The average person should care. Bees of all species are fundamental to the operation of our ecosystem."
"....According to the United States Department of Agriculture, a full one-third of the human diet depends on honeybee pollination of crops – especially fruit, nut, VEGETABLES, and seed protection in the US....
The 2010 prognosis doesn't look good, Jeff Pettis, research leader at the USDA's Bee Research Laboratory, told Discovery News.
"We obviously think it's more complicated than we first believed as in we don't believe that we're looking for a single virulent pathogen, although that can't totally be ruled out," Pettis told Discovery News. "At first we were thinking that we'd find a single causative agent, a virulent pathogen sweeping through the bee population, and that doesn't appear to be the case."
Is this Bee Armageddon?
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