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You may have noticed the price of honey going up recently. You may not have heard, though, about the death of honey bees. There has been an very large number of bee colonies dying without explanation over the last few year. Since the problem was first noticed in 2006, scientists, ecologists, and even beekeepers have been searching for the reason. The death of honey bees can mean a larger issue than a lack of honey. These bees pollinate our plants, and without this, there could be a huge problem with the growth and production of fruits and vegetables, as well as all other plants.
There were many ideas of what might be causing the mass deaths, with everything from pesticides to viruses. In October of 2010, scientists and other researches feel that they have found the reason. The most possible cause of the death of these bees is actually a combination of things. More specifically, a specific fungus and virus combined. In fact, the virus that was found in the dead bees was very closely related to a different virus that almost completely wiped out the population of bees about 20 years ago in India.
Unfortunately, there is still a very large amount of research and testing to be done. We need to make sure that this is the reason for the deaths, as well as why it is happening. There is also research that has been started to look into the possible cures for this problem. If this problem persists, and there is no cure found, we may be looking at a significant lack of bees in the world, and that can be a huge problem for everyone.
Until there has been a fix found for the problem, the bees continue to die off. Many beekeepers and scientists are taking measures to try to keep the bee population alive and going, though it has been a long, difficult battle.
