Best of the 2000's: Top Conscience Raising Facts / Bee Decline

Since 2007, beekeepers have lost two-thirds of the bee population nationwide. Reports of Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) -- where adult bees abandon their colonies -- first surfaced in November 2006, although researchers believe hives have been experiencing losses since 2004.
Bees are pollinators: they participate in sexual reproduction of many plants, by ensuring cross-pollination, essential for some species, or a major factor in ensuring genetic diversity for others. Since plants are the primary food source for animals, the reduction of one of the primary pollination agents, or even their possible disappearance, has raised concern, and the conservation of pollinators has become part of biodiversity conservation efforts.
There are international iniatives (e.g. the International Pollinator Iniative (IPI)) that highlight the need for public participation and awareness of pollinator, such as bees, conservation