50 Top 10 Lists of 2007

Top 10 Animal Stories

#2. A Bee-normous Problem

The most promising theory behind colony-collapse disorder is that a virus is responsible for wiping out perhaps as much as a quarter of the commercial U.S. honey bee population, which is responsible for pollinating such important crops as apples, peaches and soybeans. In September, researchers at Penn State and Columbia found that a disease known as Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus was present in more than 90% of the afflicted hives. But many in the scientific community think other parasites or pesticides may be to blame.

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