Florida was a suburb of that paradise, before the trees were sprayed night and day, turning whole counties into a honeybee no-trespassing zone.

CNN: What's killing the bees

But other native bees are gaining scientific attention at a time when honeybee hives are plagued by myriad problems that threaten their survival.

WSJ: New Sweat Bee Generates Buzz

Millions of acres of Conservation Reserve Land bloomed, supplying a healthy mix of blossoms to thousands of honeybee colonies.

CNN: What's killing the bees

Bees could, once again in theory, be treated with antiviral drugs or, alternatively, the virus might burn itself out. (A recent paper co-written by van Engelsdorp shows that unexplained honeybee die-offs have occurred in the U.S. fourteen times in the past hundred years.) Finally, there is the possibility that C.

NEWYORKER: Stung

The second oddity is that in 1990, or thereabouts, a single Cape bee hatched with a handful of mutations that made her eggs smell like those of African-honeybee queens.

ECONOMIST: African honeybees