Unless someone or something stops it soon, the mysterious killer that is wiping out many of America's honeybees could have a devastating effect on the country's dinner plate, perhaps even reducing its people to a glorified bread-and-water diet.

除非某人或某事立刻出面制止，正在徹底摧毀美國大部分蜜蜂的神祕殺手，可能會對美國的晚餐，產生毀滅性的影響，甚至可能使民眾節衣縮食，只能吃麵包、喝白開水度日。

Honeybees do not just make honey; they pollinate more than 90 of the tastiest flowering crops the country has.

蜜蜂不只製造蜂蜜，它們為美國九十多種最美味的顯花作物傳授花粉。

Among them: apples, nuts, avocados, soybeans, asparagus, broccoli, celery, squash and cucumbers. And lots of the really sweet and tart stuff, too, including citrus fruit, peaches, kiwi, cherries, blueberries, cranberries, strawberries, cantaloupe and other melons.

其中包括蘋果、堅果、鱷梨、大豆、蘆筍、甘藍、芹菜、南瓜和小黃瓜。另外還有很多甜酸辛辣的食材，包括柑橘類水果、桃子、奇異果、櫻桃、藍莓、小紅莓、草莓、羅馬甜瓜及其他甜瓜。

In fact, about one-third of the human diet comes from insect-pollinated plants, and the honeybee is responsible for 80 percent of that pollination, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

事實上，據美國農業部表示，人類攝取的食物中，約三分之一來自昆蟲傳授花粉的植物，而蜜蜂又占其中百分之八十。

Even cattle, which feed on alfalfa, depend on bees. So if the collapse worsens, Americans could end up being "stuck with grains and water," said Kevin Hackett, the national program leader for USDA's bee and pollination program.

連以紫花苜蓿為飼料的牛都要靠蜜蜂傳授花粉，所以如果蜂群衰竭失調繼續惡化，美國人可能總有一天「得餐餐吃雜糧喝水了，」美國農業部蜜蜂及傳授花粉計畫全國計畫負責人哈克特說。

"This is the biggest general threat to our food supply," Hackett said.

「這是對我們的食物供應最大的威脅，」哈克特說。

While not all scientists foresee a food crisis, noting that large-scale bee die-offs have happened before, this one seems particularly baffling and alarming.

但並非所有科學家都預見糧食危機，他們認為過去也曾發生大規模的蜂群死亡事件，但這次似乎特別令人困惑不解和震驚。

U.S. beekeepers in the past few months have lost one-quarter of their colonies -- or about five times the normal winter losses -- because of what scientists have dubbed Colony Collapse Disorder.

過去幾個月，美國養蜂人由於科學家所謂的「蜂群衰竭失調」而痛失四分之一蜂群，或者約為冬天正常死亡數目的五倍。

The problem started in November and seems to have spread to 27 states, with similar collapses reported in Brazil, Canada and parts of Europe.

問題起於去年11月，同時似乎已經擴散到全美27州，同樣的衰竭情況也發生於巴西、加拿大和歐洲部分地區。

The top suspects are a parasite, an unknown virus, some kind of bacteria, pesticides, or a one-two combination of the top four, with one weakening the honeybee and the second killing it.

頭號「嫌犯」是一種寄生蟲，一種不知名的濾過性病毒，某種細菌和殺蟲劑，或這四大禍首不同組合的左右開攻，其一弱化蜜蜂，第二個再將它殺死。

"The problem is that everyone wants a simple answer," Pettis said. "And it may not be a simple answer."

「問題在人人都想要簡單的答案，」農業部首席蜜蜂科學家派提斯說。「但答案可能沒那麼簡單。」

《詞解》
bland 平淡無味
wipe out 徹底摧毀
devastating effect 毀滅性影響
pollinate 傳授花粉
flowering crops 顯花作物
avocados 鱷梨
asparagus 蘆筍
squash 南瓜
blueberry 藍莓
cranberry 小紅莓
cantaloupe 羅馬甜瓜
alfalfa 紫花苜蓿
end up 總有一天
baffling 困惑不解