Vital for our food production, honeybee populations are now in crisis (Image: Nature Picture Library/Rex)

THE world’s honeybees appear to be dying off in horrifying numbers, and now consensus is starting to emerge on the reason why: it seems there is no one cause. Infections, lack of food, pesticides and breeding – none catastrophic on their own – are having a synergistic effect, pushing bee survival to a lethal tipping point. A somewhat anti-climactic conclusion it may be, but appreciating this complexity – and realising there will be no magic bullet – may be the key to saving the insects.

A third of our …