For the record, I think this is bullshit. I googled around this story and there is a lot of dissent about this explanation. Its most likely a virus.

That wouldn't shock me either. For what it is at this point, it's still a good vehicle to make a point that I've been wanting to make.

Regardless of what is killing the bees right now, it needs to be looked into, and it seems it is. I saw another story about a week ago that had more figures on the hive death rates, but I can't seem to find it now..

Resistance to a virus is an issue that fits right into the controlled breeding of the bees anyway. I'm under the (correct?) impression that a very significant chunk of the bee population that is critical in pollinating crops is already in a psudo-controlled environment. Bee hives, kept by keepers, in proximity to crops. If they are getting a 40% die off every year, thought must go into the breeding strategies for the maintained hives.

It doesn't effect the larger point I was trying to make. We need to get better at playing god. I like wording it that way too.. "playing god". It's fun to say/write.

RE: Birds, bees, mobile phones, and the apocalypse