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Trying to solve Washington's dying bee mystery

10:52 PM PDT on Tuesday, July 22, 2008

By GARY CHITTIM / KING 5 News

Video: Trying to solve Washington's dying bee mystery
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LONG BEACH, Wash – No bees, no food.

That warning is getting louder as the nation's bee keepers continue to suffer mysterious die-offs. One group in this state is convinced bees are what they eat.

Some beekeepers have lost all of their bees in the last 24 months. Now, b affled scientists are racing to find the problem and the cure, and a group of honey bees may hold the secret to survival for their species.

Mites, bacteria, mysterious disorders are all possible causes of collapse, but a project in Long Beach focuses on the individual bee and its lifespan.

"Normally in the wintertime bees live up to 120, 140 days, and what's happening is they're dying at 90, at 60 days and the problem is, they're burning themselves out," said on beekeeper.

A handful of beekeepers supply all the bees for farmers across the West. Could it be they're working too hard for our food and not getting enough out of their own meals?

A group of researchers is convinced what the bees need are dietary supplements.

It's energy they need to hop from crop to crop and from blossom to blossom in the field.

By October, the blossoms will be gone, replaced by millions of cranberries. Fields all over Pacific County will be turned into bogs full of the fruit. But only if the bees get their work done.

Researchers are collecting the supplement-charged bees to see if they do live longer, healthier lives. Until they find out, the bee mystery will cast shadows over the future of the state's thriving agriculture industry.

Researchers say early results show improved health in the treated bees, but they admit they are a long way from solving the bee mystery.

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