From CNN:

• A survey of bee health released Tuesday revealed a grim picture, with 36.1 percent of the nation's commercially managed hives lost since last year.
  
  Bees are dying at unsustainable levels, the president of the Apiary Inspectors of America says.
  
  Last year's survey commissioned by the Apiary Inspectors of America found losses of about 32 percent.

Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) effects everyone since we are all dependent on honey bees to pollinate many of the crops that we eat. As a macro photographer I see fewer and fewer wild honey bees every year.

For more information on CCD check out Wikipedia: Link

One of the potential threats that might be the cause of CCD is the Varroa Mite. You can see one of them at the top of this bee's head:



Wikipedia also has some good information on the Varroa Mite: Link

Arthur C. Clark once said that if bees became extinct man would follow in about 10 years...

The good news is that the scientific community is getting funding to study CCD and hopefully, as more people become away of it, there will be more pressure to find a solution.