A Sad Photo

It's a sad photo.

The antenna of a honey bee pokes out of an abandoned hive. Victim of colony collapse disorder (CCD)? Perhaps.

Everytime I look at the bent antenna, I think of a plea for help. Help me! Help me! Please help me! This bee should have been nectaring flowers or gathering pollen.

This hive once belonged to entomologists Robert and Lynn Kimsey of UC Davis. She's the director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology and chairs the Department of Entomology. He's the sole forensic entomologist in the department.

CCD was one of the topics at the eighth annual international conference of the North American Pollinator Protection Campaign (NAPPC), held Oct. 22-24 in Washington, D.C.

The participants--farmers, scientists, and environmental advocates--agreed that we need to find ways to increase public awareness of pollinators.  Pollinator Partnership chair Robert Lang described the loss of pollinators as "a potential health crisis for the planet."

Scores of beekeepers have witnessed a crisis in an individual bee hive.

Like the one below.  

(Like to help with the honey bee research at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility at the University of California, Davis? Access this site.)