Honey Bee Killing Fungus Threatens Farmers' Crops

By Emily Wood, NEWS 9

OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma farmers are concerned at the alarming rate honey bees are dying.

Honey bees started dying out about four years ago. Scientists called it Colony Collapse Disorder.

The decrease in bees is hard on farmers.

Longtime farmers like John Leonard selling their fruits and vegetables at the local market say they don't know what they would do without the pollen bees provide.

"Because bees are our sole and number one way everything out on our far is pollinated, if we had no bees, you would see our production go down to nothing," Leonard said.

Scientists believe the real bee killer could be a fungus called Nosema. 

They say with the right environmental conditions the fungus can breed and kill bees in record numbers.

The first step was for researchers to identify the fungus. Farmers and beekeepers in our state are now relying on researchers to help them find a new way to help them fight it.

Oklahoma beekeeper Tommy Thornton said about 30 percent of his bees are still dying.

"We just try to provide the best possible nutrition hoping that's what can help the bees," Thornton said.