By Matt McGrath Science reporter, BBC World Service
Scientists say there is no proof that a mysterious disease blamed for the deaths of billions of bees actually exists, the BBC has been told.
For five years increasing numbers of unexplained bee deaths have been reported worldwide, with US commercial beekeepers suffering the most.
The term Colony Collapse Disorder was coined to describe the illness.
But many experts now say that the term is misleading and there is no single, new ailment killing the bees.
In part of California the honeybee is of crucial importance to the local economy as 80% of the world's almonds come from there - America's most valuable horticultural export.
But without the bee pollinating the trees, there would be no almonds.
In a few frenzied weeks in February and March, billions of honey bees are transported to the state from as far away as Florida to flit innocently among the snowy almond blossoms, and ensure the success of this lucrative crop.
However, since 2004 their numbers have been mysteriously declining, and it was only at the end of 2006 that the severity of the losses began to be fully realised.
Commercial bee keeper Dave Hackenberg, from Pennsylvania, was the first to sound the alarm.
He recalled the moment when he first realised something was wrong:
"I started opening a few hives, and they were completely empty boxes, no bees. I got real frantic and I started looking at lots of beehives, I noticed that there were no dead bees on the ground, there weren't any bodies there."
Even stranger than the absence of the insects was the fact that other bees would not go near these deserted colonies.
Since then around 2m colonies of bees have disappeared across the US. And the losses have continued this year, albeit at a lower rate.
The unexplained nature of the affliction, with empty hives and no clearly defined infection, has stumped scientists.
Since the 1980s a rising tide of ailments has assaulted the honeybee, including the varroa mite and many deadly viruses.
For full story and video footage see: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7925397.stm
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