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Earth

Honeybees under attack on all fronts

By Debora Mackenzie

11 February 2009

91av. Science news and long reads from expert journalists, covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment on the website and the magazine.

Vital for our food production, honeybee populations are now in crisis

(Image: Nature Picture Library/Rex)

THE world’s honeybees appear to be dying off in horrifying numbers, and now consensus is starting to emerge on the reason why: it seems there is no one cause. Infections, lack of food, pesticides and breeding – none catastrophic on their own – are having a synergistic effect, pushing bee survival to a lethal tipping point. A somewhat anti-climactic conclusion it may be, but appreciating this complexity – and realising there will be no magic bullet – may be the key to saving the insects.

A third of our…

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