Beekeepers have occasionally reported mass disappearances since the 19th century.

Since the 19th century,beekeepers have reported occasional mass disappearances,giving them enigmatic names like disappearing disease,spring dwindle disease and autumn collapse.But when in 2006 such losses were found to affect more than half of all hives in the US,the phenomenon got a new name:colony collapse disorder.The most frightening thing about this mystery isn't that we'll have to go back to using regular sugar in our tea.We farm bees for their honey,but they also pollinate our crops on an industrial scale,generating over 1/3 of America's food production this way.