Honeybee deaths are alarming growers

STATE COLLEGE, Pa., Feb. 12 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists say honeybees across the nation are being killed as the result of a mystery disease that scientists are calling Colony Collapse Disorder.

Penn State University researchers say the situation is causing alarm for agriculture, with some growers uncertain whether bees will be available to pollinate their crops this spring and summer.

"During the last three months of 2006, we began to receive reports from commercial beekeepers of an alarming number of honeybee colonies dying in the eastern United States," said Maryann Frazier, apiculture extension associate in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences. "Since the beginning of the year, beekeepers from all over the country have been reporting unprecedented losses."

Scientists say they've identified several factors that might be causing the honeybee deaths, such as mites and associated diseases, some unknown pathogenic disease and pesticide contamination or poisoning, but no definitive cause has been determined.

Crops dependent upon honeybee pollination include apples, peaches, soybeans, pumpkins, cucumbers, cherries, raspberries, blackberries and strawberries.