Scale Of The Disorder

(as reported from wikipedia.org)

At least 22 different states as well as portions of Canada are known to have been affected by Colony Collapse Disorder. The disorder has been identified in a geographically diverse group of states including Georgia, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and California. In some states the loss of honey bee colonies is estimated as high as 75 percent of the population. The phenomenon is particularly important for crops such as the almond growing in California, where honey bees are the predominant pollinator and the crop value in 2006 was $US 1.5 billion. In 2000, the total U.S. crop value that was wholly dependent on the honey bee pollination was estimated to exceed $US 15 billion.

Honey bees are responsible for approximately one third of the United States crop pollination including such species as: almonds, peaches, soybeans, apples, pears, pumpkins, cucumbers, cherries, raspberries, blackberries and strawberries; many but not all of these plants can be (and often are) pollinated by other bees in the U.S., but typically not on a commercial scale. Most native pollinators cannot be utilized as easily or as effectively as honey bees, whose colonies can be moved from crop to crop as needed, and will visit many plants in large numbers. The commercial viability of these crops is therefore strongly tied to the beekeeping industry.

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