"Could bees be an early warning sign of human impact on our ecosystems? When the news broke in recent years that global honeybee populations were declining at an alarming rate, scientists took notice. The role bees play in nature simply cannot be overstated. A world without them would be unrecognizable since they pollinate many of the food crops we depend on. As the collapse of bee colonies becomes more severe, scientists and beekeepers in Europe and North America work tirelessly to find the cause. Is it genetic, a virus, pollution, or some combination of all three? Can the bees be saved? To Bee or Not To Bee takes us headlong into a world of nature, science and big business to explore these questions"--Container.

Originally presented as part of The Nature of Things.