While reading one of my favorite blogs, For the Love of Beauty, I came across an alarming ordeal: honey bee populations are rapidly decreasing. This crisis is occurring due to Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). Scientists don't know why, but are trying to understand, this phenomenon, in which honey bees are leaving their hives and soon thereafter dying.

I decided to do some research on the Haagen-Dazs Help the Honey Bees Web site (which is the cutest site I have EVER seen) and learned these interesting facts:

• One out of every three bites of food an average American eats is directly attributed to honey bee pollination.
  
• Honey bees are responsible for the pollination of more than 100 crops, including fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds, and provide 80 percent of the country's pollination services.
  
• The honey bee is responsible for $15 billion in U.S. agricultural crops each year.

Please help! Support local farmers and beekeepers, plant seeds, donate to CCD research, and buy products that support this cause.

Burt's Bees is currently featuring Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) Beeswax Lip Balm. When you purchase this product for $3, five percent of the proceeds will go to researching a solution to this bee dilemma. They are also holding a contest, which you can read all about here.

(Photos courtesy of: Burt's Bees and Printfection.com)