Apparently Bee hives are suffering massive die offs in parts of the US
It sound like something to keep an eye on, since honey bees are rather important both commercially and ecologically.
Lots of conjectures about causes, one that caught my attention as mildly plausible is that "nicotinoids", a (new?) class of pesticides, is weakening bee immune systems rendering them vulnerable to infection.
(Hm, nothing on them on wikipedia, curious, nor on neonicotinoids, here to make up for it is the wiki entry on Imidacloprid - one of the new nicotine based pesticides).
There is a wiki on Colony Collapse Disorder
Anyway, the link is to a PSU agri site keeping track of things, so linking for linking's sake.
(h/t kos)
This entertaining craziness comes via Dave Bacon's blog
http://www.synchronizm.com/blog/index.php/2007/03/29/the-bees-who-flew-…
It pertains to your post.