1
00:00:08,857 --> 00:00:10,825
There is an environmental mystery afoot,

2
00:00:10,825 --> 00:00:13,285
and it begins
with a seemingly trivial detail

3
00:00:13,285 --> 00:00:18,146
that reveals a disaster
of global proportions.

4
00:00:18,146 --> 00:00:20,761
One day, you notice that the honey
you slather on your morning toast

5
00:00:20,761 --> 00:00:22,177
is more expensive.

6
00:00:22,177 --> 00:00:24,063
Instead of switching to jam,

7
00:00:24,063 --> 00:00:26,823
you investigate the reason
for the price hike.

8
00:00:26,823 --> 00:00:28,555
What you find is shocking.

9
00:00:28,555 --> 00:00:30,951
The number of domesticated
honeybees in the US

10
00:00:30,951 --> 00:00:34,799
has been decreasing at an alarming rate.

11
00:00:34,799 --> 00:00:36,666
This decline appears too big

12
00:00:36,666 --> 00:00:39,824
to be explained by the usual causes
of bee death alone:

13
00:00:39,824 --> 00:00:42,961
disease, parasites or starvation.

14
00:00:42,961 --> 00:00:46,347
A typical crime scene
has almost no adult bees left in the hive,

15
00:00:46,347 --> 00:00:50,085
except, perhaps, a lonely queen
and a few other survivors.

16
00:00:50,085 --> 00:00:54,013
It's full of untouched food stores
and a brood of unborn larvae,

17
00:00:54,013 --> 00:00:58,759
suggesting that the adults vacated
without waiting for them to hatch.

18
00:00:58,759 --> 00:01:00,685
But what's particularly eerie

19
00:01:00,685 --> 00:01:04,569
is that there's no tell-tale mass
of dead or dying bees nearby.

20
00:01:04,569 --> 00:01:07,202
Either they have forgotten
their way back to the hive,

21
00:01:07,202 --> 00:01:10,534
or they have simply disappeared.

22
00:01:10,534 --> 00:01:13,075
These mysterious
disappearances aren't new.

23
00:01:13,075 --> 00:01:15,786
Humans have been collecting
honey for centuries.

24
00:01:15,786 --> 00:01:18,853
But it wasn't until European settlers
in the 1600's

25
00:01:18,853 --> 00:01:21,440
introduced the subspecies, 
Apis mellifera,

26
00:01:21,440 --> 00:01:23,809
that we domesticated bees.

27
00:01:23,809 --> 00:01:25,160
Since the 19th century,

28
00:01:25,161 --> 00:01:28,335
beekeepers have reported
occasional mass disappearances,

29
00:01:28,335 --> 00:01:29,985
giving them enigmatic names

30
00:01:29,985 --> 00:01:33,493
like disappearing disease,
spring dwindle disease

31
00:01:33,493 --> 00:01:35,515
and autumn collapse.

32
00:01:35,515 --> 00:01:38,149
But when in 2006 such losses 
were found to affect

33
00:01:38,149 --> 00:01:40,443
more than half of all hives in the US,

34
00:01:40,443 --> 00:01:42,524
the phenomenon got a new name:

35
00:01:42,524 --> 00:01:45,441
colony collapse disorder.

36
00:01:45,441 --> 00:01:47,489
The most frightening thing 
about this mystery

37
00:01:47,489 --> 00:01:50,994
isn't that we'll have to go back 
to using regular sugar in our tea.

38
00:01:50,994 --> 00:01:52,857
We farm bees for their honey,

39
00:01:52,857 --> 00:01:56,118
but they also pollinate our crops 
on an industrial scale,

40
00:01:56,119 --> 00:02:00,962
generating over 1/3 of America's 
food production this way.

41
00:02:00,962 --> 00:02:03,940
So, how can we find 
the culprit behind this calamity?

42
00:02:03,940 --> 00:02:06,690
Here are three of the possible offenders.

43
00:02:06,690 --> 00:02:10,783
Exhibit A: Pests and Disease.

44
00:02:10,783 --> 00:02:12,710
Most infamous is the varroa mite,

45
00:02:12,710 --> 00:02:16,663
a minuscule red pest that not only 
invades colonies and feeds on bees,

46
00:02:16,663 --> 00:02:19,877
but also transfers pathogens 
that stunt bee growth

47
00:02:19,877 --> 00:02:21,917
and shortens their life span.

48
00:02:21,917 --> 00:02:24,672
Exhibit B: Genetics.

49
00:02:24,672 --> 00:02:26,924
The queen is the core of a healthy hive.

50
00:02:26,924 --> 00:02:29,794
But nowadays, the millions 
of queen bees distributed

51
00:02:29,794 --> 00:02:33,795
in commercial hives are bred 
from just a few original queens,

52
00:02:33,795 --> 00:02:36,378
which raises the worry about 
a lack of genetic diversity

53
00:02:36,378 --> 00:02:40,545
which could weaken bees' defenses 
against pathogens and pests.

54
00:02:40,545 --> 00:02:43,398
Exhibit C: Chemicals.

55
00:02:43,398 --> 00:02:45,937
Pesticides used both
on commercial beehives

56
00:02:45,937 --> 00:02:48,326
and agricultural crops 
to ward off parasites

57
00:02:48,326 --> 00:02:51,796
could be getting into the food 
and water that honeybees consume.

58
00:02:51,796 --> 00:02:54,129
Researchers have even found
that some pesticides

59
00:02:54,129 --> 00:02:58,295
damage the honeybees' homing abilities.

60
00:02:58,295 --> 00:03:00,209
So we have a file full of clues

61
00:03:00,209 --> 00:03:01,751
but no clear leads.

62
00:03:01,751 --> 00:03:04,836
In reality, scientists, 
the actual detectives on this case,

63
00:03:04,836 --> 00:03:08,710
face disagreement over what causes 
colony collapse disorder.

64
00:03:08,710 --> 00:03:13,213
For now, we assume that 
several factors are the cause.

65
00:03:13,213 --> 00:03:16,140
Honeybees aren't necessarily 
in danger of extinction,

66
00:03:16,140 --> 00:03:20,102
but fewer bees overall means
less pollination and higher food costs,

67
00:03:20,102 --> 00:03:24,355
so it's crucial that scientists solve 
the case of the vanishing bees.

68
00:03:24,355 --> 00:03:26,898
Because while having less honey 
might be a buzzkill,

69
00:03:26,898 --> 00:03:30,319
crop shortages are something
that would truly sting.