The disappearance of beesIf the bee disappeared from the surface of the globe, man would only have four years to live. More bees, more pollination, more plants, more animals, more people. The quote above is often attributed to Albert Einstein, but it is actually believed that this brilliant man said it was not true. It was originally written by Maurice Maeterlinck in his work “The Life of the Bee” in 1901 (“Exploring the Origins of Quotations”). But the position taken today is not about who actually made this quote, but about what truths can be attributed to it. The warning it represents and the fear of its possibility, since it has been noticed that bees are disappearing. The bee's disappearance was first reported in the United States and Europe in October 2006 by beekeepers who began noticing a strange phenomenon. This group of people noticed that normally healthy bees were abandoning their hives and not returning. Beekeepers reported losses of between 30 and 90 percent of the hives they maintained. Winter was approaching and the hives were suffering losses, but this had never been seen in such large numbers before. The main observation of what would become colony collapse disorder (CCD) was that a very small amount, if any, of adult bees were found in the hive, there was a queen, immature bees and some honey, but without the presence of mature adults, not enough. workers were available to maintain the very existence of the hive itself, so the hive dies. The other event observed is a massive death of bees as a whole within the colony itself. (“Honey Bees and Colony Collapse Disorder”). This is not a new occurrence in the United States and...... middle of paper ......nifer. “Why we need bees: Nature’s little workers put food on our tables.” Bee Facts. Natural Resources Defense Council, nd Web. February 23, 2014. http://www.nrdc.org/wildlife/animals/files/bees.pdf. United States. Ministry of Agriculture. Honey bees and colony collapse disorder. Washington DC:, 2013. web. http://www.ars.usda.gov/News/docs.htm?docid=15572."Vanishing Bees." Natural Resources Defense Council. Natural Resources Defense Council, July 25, 2008. Web. February 23, 2014. http://www.nrdc.org/wildlife/animals/bees.asp.Walsh, Bryan. “The problem of beekeeping in the Anthropocene.” TIME. August 19, 2013: b. page. Internet. February 23, 2014. http://science.time.com/2013/08/09/the-trouble-with-beekeeping-in-the-anthropocene/."Why are bees disappearing?." About.com. About.com, and Web. February 23, 2014. http://environment.about.com/od/biodiversityconservation/a/honeybees.htm.