A World without Bees - Tapa dura

Honeybees are dying. In America, one in three hives was left lifeless at the beginning of 2008. In France, the death rate might be 60 percent. In Britain, a government minister has warned that honey bees could be extinct within a decade. A third of all that we eat, and much of what we wear, relies on pollination by honeybees. So if - or when - the world loses its black-and-yellow workers, the consequences will be dire. What is behind this catastrophe? Viruses, parasites, pesticides and climate change have all been blamed. As has modern mono culture agribusiness. In this timely book, two keen amateur apiarists investigate all the claims and counterclaims with the help of scientist and beekeepers in Europe, America and beyond. They ask the question that will soon be on everyone's lips: is there any possible way of saving the honeybees - and, with them, the world as we know it?

Alison Benjamin is a Guardian journalist. She is deputy editor of the Society and editor of the Environment website. Brian McCallum is studying to become an apiarist.