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(NNC) - Step outside, go to your nearest garden, park or forest - and look around. You might not notice it at first, but today the entire world changed - nearly all bees have simply disappeared.

Yes, as strange as it sounds -it’s true. Though scientists have been studying Colony Collapse Disorder for months, none of the scientific community expected the phenomenon that has occurred - the complete disappearance, almost extinction, of bee colonies worldwide. That is why many entymologists have begun calling it the “bee apocalypse,” and now has the scientific community in a state of panic.

“The implications of this phenomenon can not be underestimated,” said Dr. Brian Goldstein, an entymologist who has been studying the disappearances. “Two thirds of the world’s fruits rely on pollinator insects. We are facing a crisis of epic proportions.”

To put the threat into perspective, Dr. Goldstein says that about 1/3 of our diets rely on pollinator insects. And bees have always been the primary source of that pollination.

As of now, scientists are still perplexed as to what has caused the disappearance. Though some have theorized that an Asian strain of the nosema ceranae parasite is the cause, the theory has been largely debunked due to the bizarre nature of the deaths - that being complete disappearance.

Currently, the only bees that remain alive are those that have been kept in contained laboratories - now under guard by the US government.

President Bush will be holding a press conference on the subject later tonight and announcing whether or not bees will be placed on the list of extinct animals.

Developing…

POSTED BY RON BOLDWALL, NEW YORK, NY 21:34:47

Technorati Tags: colony collapse disorder, bees, extinction, nature, environment, apocalypse, danger, crisis