WEBVTT

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There is an environmental mystery afoot,

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and it begins
with a seemingly trivial detail

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that reveals a disaster
of global proportions.

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One day, you notice that the honey
you slather on your morning toast

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is more expensive.

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Instead of switching to jam,

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you investigate the reason
for the price hike.

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What you find is shocking.

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The number of domesticated
honeybees in the US

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has been decreasing at an alarming rate.

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This decline appears too big

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to be explained by the usual causes
of bee death alone:

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disease, parasites or starvation.

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A typical crime scene
has almost no adult bees left in the hive,

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except, perhaps, a lonely queen
and a few other survivors.

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It's full of untouched food stores
and a brood of unborn larvae,

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suggesting that the adults vacated
without waiting for them to hatch.

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But what's particularly eerie

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is that there's no tell-tale mass
of dead or dying bees nearby.

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Either they have forgotten
their way back to the hive,

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or they have simply disappeared.

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These mysterious
disappearances aren't new.

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Humans have been collecting
honey for centuries.

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But it wasn't until European settlers
in the 1600's

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introduced the subspecies, 
Apis mellifera,

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that we domesticated bees.

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Since the 19th century,

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beekeepers have reported
occasional mass disappearances,

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giving them enigmatic names

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like disappearing disease,
spring dwindle disease

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and autumn collapse.

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But when in 2006 such losses 
were found to affect

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more than half of all hives in the US,

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the phenomenon got a new name:

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colony collapse disorder.

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The most frightening thing 
about this mystery

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isn't that we'll have to go back 
to using regular sugar in our tea.

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We farm bees for their honey,

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but they also pollinate our crops 
on an industrial scale,

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generating over 1/3 of America's 
food production this way.

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So, how can we find 
the culprit behind this calamity?

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Here are three of the possible offenders.

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Exhibit A: Pests and Disease.

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Most infamous is the varroa mite,

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a minuscule red pest that not only 
invades colonies and feeds on bees,

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but also transfers pathogens 
that stunt bee growth

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and shortens their life span.

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Exhibit B: Genetics.

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The queen is the core of a healthy hive.

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But nowadays, the millions 
of queen bees distributed

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in commercial hives are bred 
from just a few original queens,

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which raises the worry about 
a lack of genetic diversity

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which could weaken bees' defenses 
against pathogens and pests.

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Exhibit C: Chemicals.

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Pesticides used both
on commercial beehives

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and agricultural crops 
to ward off parasites

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could be getting into the food 
and water that honeybees consume.

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Researchers have even found
that some pesticides

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damage the honeybees' homing abilities.

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So we have a file full of clues

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but no clear leads.

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In reality, scientists, 
the actual detectives on this case,

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face disagreement over what causes 
colony collapse disorder.

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For now, we assume that 
several factors are the cause.

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Honeybees aren't necessarily 
in danger of extinction,

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but fewer bees overall means
less pollination and higher food costs,

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so it's crucial that scientists solve 
the case of the vanishing bees.

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Because while having less honey 
might be a buzzkill,

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crop shortages are something
that would truly sting.