Species are being threatened all across the world. Arctic species, such as the polar bear, are constantly being threatened by the warmer temperatures associated with global warming, but why is it that honey bees disappearing rapidly doesn’t have much emotional impact on people?

Honeybees are vanishing at an alarming rate, and they have not been disappearing over a long period of time; it has been virtually overnight.

According to an article from abcnews.com, 2.4 million bee colonies are responsible for pollinating everything from almonds to fruit to flowers, and about 25 percent, or 600,000 bees have gone missing. This mystery disappearance is known as Colony Collapse Disorder.

Countries all over the world are being affected by the honeybee disappearance. According to an article by eworldvu.com, Italy alone lost almost half of its 50 million bees last year. It also said that the crisis would hit France, Germany, Britain, Brazil, Australia and Canada. This is a huge number of bees that will be gone.

Why does it matter that we lose all of the honeybees? Albert Einstein once wrote, “If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe, then man would only have four years of life left.” Honeybees are responsible for much more than just the fruits and flowers they pollinate; they are indirectly in control of all life on earth.

The funny thing is that honeybees are so important to the environment, but they are rapidly disappearing without a trace. According to the same article at abcnews.com, many beekeepers only have guesses at why the bees are dying off. Many believe that it could be an insecticide called Gaucho, since it disorients insects. Other beekeepers believe the vanishing bees could be due to drought or ill-experienced beekeepers.

One company that is trying to save the bees is Haagen-Dazs. According to an article from cnnmoney.com, bees are accountable for 40 percent of Haagen-Dazs’s 60 flavors. The article also states that the company may have to reconsider their flavors, since many of them are dependent off of the bees. That is a major issue that needs to be solved, or companies such as Haagen-Dazs could be facing major downsizing.

The article from cnnmoney.com also states that Haagen-Dazs is donating $250,000 to Pennsylvania State University and University of California for bee research funding. Haagen-Dazs is also adding a new flavor, Vanilla Honey Bee, of which part of the proceeds will go to helping the bee cause.

There are many ways in which concerned students can help save the honeybees. Students can visit helpthehoneybees.com where they can donate money to Pennsylvania State University or University of California, and the earnings will go to finding the cure to Colony Collapse Disorder. On the same Web site, students can learn about planting flowers that attract honeybees, such as lavender, rosemary or violets.

The honeybees are desperately in need of help. If people do not act out and try to help soon, the circle of life could be in more danger than we think.