…Unless actions are taken to slow the decline of domesticated honeybees and augment
[increase] their populations with wild bees, many fruits and vegetables may disappear from
the food supply, said Claire Kremen, a conservation biologist at Princeton University in
New Jersey.…
The honeybee decline, which is affecting domesticated and wild bee populations
around the world, is mostly the result of diseases spread as a result of mites and other
parasites as well as the spraying of crops with pesticides, scientists say.…
Source: “Bee Declines May Spell End of Some Fruits, Vegetables,”
National Geographic News, October 5, 2005
A decrease in honeybee populations will
(1) eliminate the need to spray crops (3) reduce the occurrence of natural disasters
(2) increase the number of bee parasites (4) disrupt the stability of an ecosystem