Soybeans, apples, melons, onions, citrus, alfalfa, cotton: These crops wouldn't seem to have much in common, but they do. Each -- and thousands of other plant species around the world -- rely partly on bees for pollination.

And the bees are vanishing. Since 1971, the number of honeybee colonies in the United States has dropped by half. The phenomemon drew little attention, however, until last year, when commercial beekeepers began reporting a mysterious ailment that would come to be called "colony collapse disorder," or, more religiously, the "honeybee rapture."

The disorder works like this: First, worker bee numbers dwindle. A beekeeper might notice the queen flying outside the hive. Then adult bees seem to disappear, leaving behind no dead bodies. The "absconded" bees typically abandon stores of honey and pollen (which other bees won't touch) along with immature bees in the pupal stages.

Beekeepers are used to dealing with threats like mites and stray pesticides. But the new disorder is a mystery. And it's hitting hives across Florida hard. State officials estimate that more than 15,000 bee colonies have fallen apart so far. State agriculture experts interviewed seven beekeepers hit hard by the disease and found that all engaged in the practice of moving bees from crop to crop -- one way beekeepers make money is by renting out their bees to farmers to pollinate crops, a process that can take a hive across the country and back.

Is stress from the moves a contributing factor when a hive collapses? Possibly. The deserted hives included in Florida's January report had been moved at least twice, and as many as five times, during the 2006 growing season. Other possible culprits include pesticides -- like residue from a popular class of anti-termite chemicals -- fungal infections, single-celled parasites or even increased radiation from the proliferation of cell phones. State officials have sent bees to Pennsylvania for necropsies, along with samples of comb and honey.

It's important that officials find out. Florida's bee industry is worth about $13 million on its own, and probably adds $20 million or more in value of crops pollinated by bees. Nationwide, the value of bee-pollinated crops tops $14 billion. But the problem goes beyond money: If bees disappear, the United States will lose much of its food supply. Most of the fruits and vegetables Americans take for granted are pollinated by bees, along with alfalfa (used to feed livestock).

Scientists have been experimenting with alternative pollination methods but have yet to come up with anything as effective as bees.

The magnitude of the problem should make this a priority for state and federal agriculture officials. Yet the Legislature -- when asked to appropriate money to research the issue -- said no.

Congress has yet to act either, though U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Miramar, has proposed legislation that would appropriate $75 million for research into the disease.

That would be a good start. But the challenge goes beyond the current problems of colony collapse. When the Subcommittee on Horticulture and Organic Agriculture heard testimony on the issue in March, several scientists stressed that this mysterious ailment is only one of multiple threats to bees. Hives are also at risk from urban expansion, a greater use of pesticides and numerous other threats. Some say that wild honeybees have mostly disappeared -- but nobody knows for sure.

It's humbling to think that human survival depends in part on honeybees' welfare. But the current crisis should compel policy makers to face reality and fight to save the bees.

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