Bees like a varied diet

I wrote a fair amount about colony collapse disorder and bees when it first hit the news last year. Research has continued and one big finding is that species diversity (of pollinating plants) is crucial to bee health. The more varied the diet, the more robust the bee, and the more able to resist pathogens.

TreeHugger: "Apparently bees' immune systems are healthier when they are fed pollen from a wider variety of plants than when they eat only one thing."

So in addition to not whacking bees with neurotoxins, it may be better to let bees sample a lot of different pollen sources, not just eat what they get on the road.