The bees fall silent and food prices rise

"No bees, no crops," said Robert Edwards, a North Carolina farmer, during a Congressional hearing.

Edward Flanagan, who grows blueberries in Maine, said he could be forced to increase prices tenfold or go out of business without the beekeeping industry.

"Every one of those berries owes its existence to the crazy, neurotic dancing of a honey bee from flower to flower," he told the agricultural sub-committee of the House of Representatives.

Bees are responsible for pollinating a third of the crops produced in America, the world's biggest food supplier.

In the US, bee pollination is estimated to be responsible for $15 billion (£7.5 billion) each year of crop value. Apples, strawberries, almonds and onions are among the varied produce that rely on the insects.

However, since 2006, beekeepers have been reporting drastic and unexplained reductions in bee numbers.

This year, colony collapse disorder (CCD) saw numbers fall by 36 per cent - a five per cent increase on 2007 – with some beekeepers losing 90 per cent of their bees.

The mystery disappearances highlight the important link that honeybees play in the chain that brings fruit and vegetables to supermarkets and dinner tables. "It's not just affecting the beekeepers, it's affecting the farmers that produce the food, and in the end it's going to affect the consumer," said David Hackenberg, a US beekeeper.

Not a lot is known about this disease and researchers are struggling to find out the causes of the ailment.