Have any of you watched The Happening?  It’s a M. Night Shyamalan movie with Mark Wahlberg, of Marky Mark and The Funky Bunch fame.  (No?  Am I that old that you don’t remember this?  *sigh*)

Anyway, as Mari noted before (and I agree with her), the movie is a bit on the silly side.  But whatever.  The only reason I’m bringing it up is that at the beginning, Mark Wahlberg (who plays a science teacher) is talking to his class about the mass disappearance of bees, and how it’s really mysterious and a big problem.  Well, guess what…that’s not just Hollywood talk.  There really is a mass disappearance of bees going on in Europe and the U.S., and it’s freaking people out because bees are extremely important to our ecosystem.

At first, no one really knew for sure what was killing all the bees.  But scientists have found a cause: a parasite called Nosema ceranae.  Because the scientists rock, they were able to treat the bees with antibiotics and get rid of the infection in the bee colonies they were studying.

There was also speculation that pesticides may have been causing the disappearance, but scientists weren’t able to find evidence of that.

Honeybees are a big freaking deal because they pollinate so many of the crops we depend on for food and business.  One estimate says that about 35% of European food crops rely on bees to pollinate them.  Can you imagine what a mess there would be if more than a third of Europe’s food crops disappeared?  Without the bees, not only would we have a lot less food, but farmers wouldn’t be able to make a living.

So next time you see a bee, run away screaming if you don’t want to get stung, but before you do, say “Thank you.”

The article.  And another.

Thanks to Emma-Lu!  Who knows honeybees are a pretty sweet deal.