In the autumn of 2006, commercial beekeepers across the United States began noticing something deeply unsettling. Hives that had appeared healthy only weeks earlier were suddenly empty. Worker bees had disappeared without leaving behind the usual signs of disease or attack. The queen remained inside, surrounded by honey, pollen, and a handful of young bees, but the vast workforce that sustained the colony had simply vanished. This mysterious phenomenon was named “Colony Collapse Disorder” (CCD), leading to studies carried out by scientists on the health of honeybees. Almost twenty years later, the research community has learned a lot about this problem, but the cause of the collapse of the colonies remains unknown.
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