2.5M Dead Bees Touring Country to Underscore Bee Declines

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — A truck hauling more than 2.5 million dead bees has begun a cross-country tour with a stop in South Dakota Monday in an effort to raise awareness about the collapse of bee colonies in the U.S.

The tour comes about a month after a federal report on honeybees showed a jump in the winter colony loss rate.

The tour is backed by the advocacy group Friends of the Earth, a fierce critic of pesticides. The truck will stop in Minnesota, Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Washington, D.C.

Minnesota-based beekeeper James Cook says he agreed to drive the truck after he witnessed a massive bee die-off in 2013.

A host of issues have been blamed over the years for the decline in bee populations, including disease, limited food supply and use of pesticides.

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