Colony collapse disease has killed thousands of bees . Scientists suspect a disease may combine with other factors to collapse colonies . It first showed up in 2004 , as bees were imported from China . The virus identified in the healthy Australian bees is Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus ( IAPV ) -- named that because it was discovered by Hebrew University researchers . $ 15 billion in U.S. is each year dependent on bees for pollination .
Colony collapse disease has killed thousands of bees . Scientists suspect a disease may combine with other factors to collapse colonies . It first showed up in 2004 , as bees were imported from China . $ 15 billion in U.S. is each year dependent on bees for pollination .