(CNN) — That honeybees die is not new. And that beekeepers accept that on average 30% or more of their livestock will vanish each spring isn’t new either. But when more than half of all the honeybees in this country die almost at once — that is new. And that’s what happened this spring.
Scientists have given this disaster the catchy, all-inclusive name Colony Collapse Disorder. It describes symptoms, but not cause.
The symptoms are straightforward. When examined in early spring, one day the colony has ample adults, an acceptable queen and a healthy number of juvenile bees ready to emerge and become adults. A week later — the adults are gone. Poof. They vanish into thin air, leaving the juveniles to emerge into a dying world.
CNN has the full article
