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VANCOUVER, British Columbia — AROUND the world, honeybee colonies are dying in huge numbers: About one-third of hives collapse each year, a pattern going back a decade. For bees and the plants they pollinate — as well as for beekeepers, farmers, honey lovers and everyone else who appreciates this marvelous social insect — this is a catastrophe. 加拿大温哥华——目前，世界各地的蜂群都在大批死亡：每年都有大约三分之一的蜂巢坍塌，这种现象已持续了10年之久。对于蜜蜂及通过它们授粉的植物——还有养蜂人、农民、喜爱蜂蜜的人，以及所有欣赏这种神奇的群居昆虫的人而言——这都是个灾难。 But in the midst of crisis can come learning. Honeybee collapse has much to teach us about how humans can avoid a similar fate, brought on by the increasingly severe environmental perturbations that challenge modern society. 但是，这种危机之中也隐藏着一些学问。蜂巢的坍塌可以提供许多信息，告诉我们当愈加严重的环境问题对现代社会构成挑战之时，人们如何才能避免相似的命运。 Honeybee collapse has been particularly vexing because there is no one cause, but rather a thousand little cuts. The main elements include the compounding impact of pesticides applied to fields, as well as pesticides applied directly into hives to control mites; fungal, bacterial and viral pests and diseases; nutritional deficiencies caused by vast acreages of single-crop fields that lack diverse flowering plants; and, in the United States, commercial beekeeping itself, which disrupts colonies by moving most bees around the country multiple times each year to pollinate crops. | 
