It will be interesting to learn how California's almond crop fares this growing season. For that matter, the honeybee disappearance may affect crops worldwide.

The decline has been felt on both coasts and in Europe.

One theory is that cell phones and other mobile devices have messed with the bees' homing system and they can't find their way back to the hives. Nature's best pollinator has been disappearing in droves.

California's almond growers, this spring, were forced to import honey bees from other states and even Australia because hives here have been "failing" left and right.

In Sacramento, a man in the bee business for years has a different theory.

Fred Stewart has outfitted beekeepers with everything from hives to advice. His interest in bees dates back to 1975 when he captured his first swarm of bees. Pretty soon, he says, he had 100 hives. Today, he and his family run Sacramento Beekeeping Supplies (www.sacramentobeekeeping.com), a retail enterprise they've had for 20 years.

Stewart doesn't buy the cell phone theory. He blames beekeepers who try to control parasitic (varroa) mites in the hive with chemicals that also prove to be bad for bees. Though there are, he says, three or four approved chemical treatments, they're expensive.

A serious infestation of mites, he explains, can transmit a mite-borne virus that deforms the wings of newborn worker bees (those that collect the nectar), leaving them unable to fly. As older worker bees die off, there are no new bees to replace them - and the hive fails.

As some beekeepers report the collapse of 75 percent of their hives, Stewart says they need to keep a closer watch on the mites. If a test finds 20 or more of the reddish-brown flea-sized insects stuck to a paper at the bottom of the hive, he says, "You gotta do something to knock the mites down - right now."

One "organic" remedy seems to be working. Using powdered sugar in the hive, Stewart explains, keeps the mites from clinging to the bees. A special, screened bottom board ($40) lets the mites fall through the hive and die. Mites fall off bees routinely, he says. If nine or fewer drop onto a sticky paper over the course of a day, not a big worry. Twenty or more, get busy.

The bee shortage - which may be showing signs of leveling off - has resulted in a hike in honey prices on the wholesale market, and the price of bees is higher. Until the winter hive die off, few commercial beekeepers raised bees for the honey, Stewart says. Wholesale prices just weren't high enough.

Instead, some beekeepers sell expensive mated queens (retail, $25 a pop) to others who have apiaries - or rent out hives to commercial orchards for pollination. Pollinating an acre of almonds, for example, requires two bee hives, minimum, says Stewart. Each hive houses 50,000 bees. Some almond orchards cover 750,000 acres - and need 1.5-million beehives. Easy to see how the loss of so many hives can impact agriculture.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, honey bees pollinate crops worth about $10 billion annually in this country. The bees are critical to crops like almonds and applies. Without bees, crops like citrus and strawberries could see yields slashed in half.

Asked how one goes about "capturing" a swarm of bees, Stewart says you get a box with a tin frame, top and bottom, brush the bees into the box, and at nightfall (when it's cooler and the bees are much less active) you go back and pick up the box. And how often has he been stung? In 30 years, getting stung an average of four times a day, he calculates, "Over a million times, maybe?"

Any more though, he says, it just swells a little. "Nothing serious."

Those in Northern California who have a problem swarm on a tree in their yard and don't want to risk getting stung can call Stewart (916-451-2337). He says, "I'll give you three names of beekeepers who will come out and get 'em."

Carol Bogart is a freelance writer/editor. Read her column at www.bloggernews.net and blog at http://carolbogart.blogspot.com . Contact her at 3bogart@sbcglobal.net.