An article in this morning’s Seattle Times discusses more about the problem concerning previously reported disappearance of honey bees and the affect on the human food chain.

 Bee keepers in Washington were relieved last year when they were spared the initial wave of the mysterious Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). However this year they are reporting more than a 30% attrition rate of their stock of hives due to a new pathegon called nosema ceranae, that causes a more aggressive and more persistent disease. The fungus attacks the bee’s gut, making it impossible to process food. The bees finally starve to death.

 Washington State crops impacted by this phenomonen account for about $1.8 billion dollars annually. In particular the apple crop is highly dependent on the pollination work done by the bees.

 This problem if not solved could have wide sweeping and deeply cutting consequences across the globe. It will cause food prices to sky rocket, major agricultural markets to be damaged or possible collapse and very possibly require that humans change dietary habits simply because certain types of foods aren’t available or simply cost to much.

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