Death of Bee

You've probably heard that the world's honeybees have [suffered:injured] stinging losses lately. That's a big story for us, too-up to $12 billion in crops rely on the fuzzy flyers for pollination. Of the 2.4 million honeybee [colonies:society] in the U.S., about one million died off this past winter. Big declines have also been seen in Europe and Asia. The die-off has been dubbed colony collapse [disorder:syndrome] and the vanishing bee syndrome.A couple of species of mites that attack bees were [responsible:related] for similar dieoffs in the winters of '95-'96 and 2000-2001. And the mites may be partly to blame for the most recent honeybee losses. But a quarter of the current carnage seems unrelated to mites or any other pests. Other [suggested:recommends] causes of the bee decline include genetically modified foods, parasites, pesticides, and cell phone radiation. But bee expert Nicholas Calderone of Cornell University said last week that a definitive cause remains elusive. He will spend this summer investigating honeybee colonies throughout the northeast trying to solve the case of the dead bees. Here's hoping he buzzes in with an answer.