There’s plenty of buzz about bees and how hives across the U.S. aren’t humming like they should. Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley is asking the U-S-D-A to step up its effort to learn about the cause of — and find a remedy for — the widespread death of bees in the U.S., what’s come to be known as Colony Collapse Disorder.

Grassley says, "I don’t think we, as farmers or city people, tend to realize the importance of bees in our economy, particularly in agriculture and in turn, in the supply of food." Grassley, a Republican, says bees do much more than make honey, calling them a vital link in America’s food chain. He says the situation is near a critical level and U-S-D-A experts need to learn why bee colonies are dying, stop the deaths and present plans for rehabilitation.

"Bees do all the pollination and in order for the pollination to take place, you’ve gotta’ have bees and we’ve just had a tremendous decline in the number of bees going on for three or four years now," Grassley says. Grassley says some beekeepers have already had to go out of business due to C-C-D and many others are struggling financially to stay in business. Last year, Grassley introduced The Pollinator Protection Act of 2007, which aims to improve habitat and food sources for pollinators.