Our Summer 2006 cover story, "The Vanishing Bee," by contributing editor Sharon Levy, described the mounting threat to American honeybees from pesticides and habitat loss, particularly in California's Central Valley. The consequences for agriculture and food production, Levy discovered, could be dire.

Now there's more to report. The good news first: Concern about the emerging pollinator crisis is mounting. In October the National Academies issued a report warning that declining pollinator populations might "alter the shape and structure of terrestrial ecosystems." Public awareness of the problem may increase this summer with the issue of a new series of 39-cent stamps featuring vital pollinators -- bees, bats, butterflies, and hummingbirds. Now the bad news: A group of powerful citrus growers is trying to push a bill through the California legislature eliminating large areas of land that has been used for generations as bee pasture and increasing the volume of pesticides that can be used during the period of citrus bloom.

Photo: Chester Williams