This is not a good time to be a bee.

For reasons that no one truly understands, the entire honeybee species in North America has become prone to a series of health problems. Hives have been plagued by some 22 different viruses in recent years. And there are two species of mite that are causing problems too. But the biggest — and strangest — problem is what scientists have dubbed Colony Collapse Disorder.

In CCD, worker bees stop being worker bees. Instead, they turn into some sort of strange vagabond bee, simply halting work and leaving the colony. There have been similar crises dating back to the start of commercial beekeeping. But something extra bad seems to be happening today.

Scientists and farmers have been warning for a decade that the bees were having more problems than they've seen previously. And CCD went from being a rare occurrence to something fairly common. In the winter of 2013, the bee population in the United States fell 23%.

That's an obvious problem for the food industry. Bees are used to pollinate about 90 commercially grown crops in America. Thus, a country with a bee crisis can rapidly turn into a country with a food crisis.

Response from the industry

A number of food companies have responded to this crisis, particularly Whole Foods. The retailer has launched a number of initiatives aimed at raising awareness of the problem, including its "Give Bees a Chance" campaign, in which in-store and online messages suggest that consumers can help the bees by planting flowers, creating space for the creation of hives, and eating organic produce.

A number of brands that sell to Whole Foods have signed on to the campaign, including Annie's, Hain Celestial, and Talenti gelato.

Each of those companies have also donated at least $100,000 to the Xerces Society, a nonprofit organization dedicated to invertebrate conservation. 

Another brand that has pledged $100,000 to Xerces is General Mills' Cascadian Farms. Boxes of its cereals now feature pictures of bees and a pledge to help save the pollinators.

General Mills has even created a bee sanctuary on company-owned land and has helped create bee-friendly environments on a number of suppliers' farms.

The agricultural controversy 

But while food processors and retailers are eager to draw attention to the plight of the the bees, giant agricultural chemical companies are not.

That's because many environmentalists blame the ag companies for the bees' problems.

At issue are neurotoxic pesticides, commonly called neonics. Activists say neonics, which went into widespread use starting in the late '90s, are the likely cause of CCD. It's an argument that has gained traction in Europe, which banned their use beginning in December 2013.

Here in the U.S., the EPA has promised to complete a review of the chemicals by 2018. In the meantime, neonics are still in use in the States, and companies such as Bayer and Syngenta that produce them argue against proposed bans. Syngenta is expected to request an exemption to the EU rule.

For its part, the White House announced last month that what the bees really need is a task force.