One problem: experts doubt that Einstein ever said those words, but the misattribution is characteristic of the confusion that surrounds the disappearance of the bees, the sense that we’re inadvertently killing a species that we’ve tended and depended on for thousands of years. A quote that’s often attributed to Albert Einstein became a slogan: “If the bee disappears from the surface of the globe, man would have no more than four years to live.” The lack of a clear culprit only deepened the mystery and the fear, heralding what some greens call a “second silent spring,” a reference to Rachel Carson’s breakthrough 1962 book, which is widely credited with helping launch the environmental movement. Others still have looked at bacterial and viral diseases. Other researchers focused on bee-killing pests like the accurately named Varroa destructor, a parasitic mite that has ravaged honeybee colonies since it was accidentally introduced into the U.S. Agricultural pesticides were an obvious suspect–specifically a popular new class of chemicals known as neonicotinoids, which seem to affect bees and other insects even at what should be safe doses. That’s why scientists like Pettis are working hard to figure out what’s bugging the bees. Department of Agriculture’s Bee Research Laboratory. “The take-home message is that we are very close to the edge,” says Jeff Pettis, the research leader at the U.S.

Eliminate the honeybee and agriculture would be permanently diminished. For fruits and vegetables as diverse as cantaloupes, cranberries and cucumbers, pollination can be a farmer’s only chance to increase maximum yield.

And almonds, totally dependent on honeybees, are a bellwether of the larger problem.

Almonds are a big deal–they’re the Golden State’s most valuable agricultural export, worth more than twice as much as its iconic wine grapes. to service this spring’s vital almond pollination in California, putting a product worth nearly $4 billion at risk. There were just barely enough viable honeybees in the U.S. Though beekeepers can replenish dead hives over time, the high rates of colony loss are putting intense pressure on the industry and on agriculture.

Perversion frazier