The food and agriculture magazine Edible Sacramento featured honeybees on the cover of its summer edition, and sought comment from UC Davis entomologist Eric Mussen on the hottest issue related to the insects - colony collapse disorder. The value of honey bees, vignettes of beekeepers, and details about hive life and leadership are covered before what writer Mary Moulton called a "disturbing development."

The paraphrased information from Mussen notes that this is not the first time honeybees mysteriously vanished. "In the late 1800s there was a colony collapse and back in the 1960s and early '70s, the condition became known as the 'disappearing disease' within apiary circles," Moulton wrote.

In 2004 and 2005, United States suffered dramatic drops in bee populations. By 2006, the article said, the media began covering the story in earnest.

The article said Mussen recounted the following hurdles bees face: pesticides and other chemicals, loss of habitat and field forage, at least two distinctive mites and several viruses.