A number of factors seem to be contributing to the bee die-off, which is both good and bad. Some of them, fortunately, are easy fixes (such as feeding bees a healthier food than high fructose corn syrup—no really), which means the situation could be ameliorated in the short term if not entirely addressed; other factors are far more difficult to deal with, either for policy reasons or due to the sheer size of the problem (climate shift).
Europe is taking an aggressive stance, issuing a two-year ban on some common pesticides believed to be playing a role in order to see if it helps. The US EPA, on the other hand, “is currently reviewing the situation and will come out with its own recommendations in 2018.”
Smart plan, EPA. If you just wait for them all to be dead, then you won’t have to do anything at all.
Personally, I suspect that the European chemical ban is going to get some spectacular results, and the US agro-industry is going to have some ugly soul-searching to do.
What’s Behind Bee Die-Off? U.S. and Europe Disagree