新奇事件簿 解读蜜蜂离奇失踪案（在线收听）

The disappearance of millions of bees is worrying agriculturalists in 24 states across the USA. Honeybees are vanishing at an alarming rate across America. Their absence is beginning to threaten the production of crops and the livelihoods of farmers. It is a little-known fact that bees contribute around $14bn to the U.S. economy as they go about their business of pollinating flowers. The unexplained vanishing act is likely to affect the lucrative harvest of avocados, almonds and kiwi fruits, as well as numerous other fruits and vegetables. This will result in higher prices for consumers. In some states, over half of the bee populations have vanished without trace. Some beekeepers have reported losses of more than 70 per cent of their bee stocks. The phenomenon has baffled scientists, who are now as busy as bees to come up with an explanation.

美国数百万蜜蜂消失，遍及全美24州，这一现象引起了农学家担忧。蜜蜂消失数量已达到警戒线。粮食产量和农民生计遭受威胁。很多人不知道的是，蜜蜂的授粉工程为美国经济带来了140亿美金回报。像鳄梨、杏仁以及猕猴桃这些利益颇丰的产品，再加上其它水果蔬菜，都有可能受到蜜蜂离奇失踪的影响。这必将导致物价上涨。在许多大州，超一半蜜蜂消失。许多蜂农表示，超70%的养殖蜂消失。这一现象让科学家困惑不解，他们正在就现象原因进行调查。

One U.S. beekeeper is at a loss to explain what has happened to his bees. David Bradshaw, 50, from California, told the New York Times that he had never seen anything like it in all his years of beekeeping. He estimates that half of his 100 million bees have gone. He said he has known of bees to disappear before but that this is America’s first national bee crisis. Experts have put forward several theories including a cold snap felling swarms of bees, or bee viruses resulting in what scientists are calling a “colony collapse disorder”. A further possibility is that the bees are stressed out. With the factory-like, intensive farming methods used in the USA, bees are put to work much more often than nature intended. This may have lowered their immunity to viruses and harmed the ability of queen bees to produce eggs..

一名美国蜂农对蜜蜂消失不知所措。加州50岁蜂农大卫·布拉德肖在接受《纽约时报》采访时表示，在他的养蜂历史中，他从没遇到过这种事情。据他预测，一亿只蜜蜂消失了一半。他称之前听说过蜜蜂消失的事情，但这是美国首次遭遇全国性蜜蜂危机。专家提出了几种可能性，包括致大量蜜蜂死亡的寒流理论，或遭遇了蜜蜂病毒，科学家将其称之为“蜂群崩溃综合症”。还有一种可能是蜜蜂不堪重负。随着集约农业化发展，蜜蜂的工作量超过了自然所需。从而导致免疫力下降，损害了蜂后产卵能力。