THAT THE 2007 honey crop has been disappointing won't surprise anyone who has picked up the newspaper in recent months, says Jane Black of the Washington Post.

Since early spring, colony collapse disorder (CCD), a viral disease that causes honeybees to suddenly, mysteriously disappear from their hives, has made headlines around the world. Ms. Black says that without honeybees to pollinate, experts warn that one-third of the food supply--from apples and peaches to cucumbers and squash--is at risk.

Scientists and beekeepers have floated a variety of theories for the collapses. But some experts say the more likely reason for this year's weak honey crop, which the National Honey Board says is on track to be smaller than last year's below-par 155 million pounds, is something much more obvious: the weather.

In the South, drought and wildfires have prevented flowers from blooming. In the Midwest, a late freeze brought nectar flows in many areas almost to a halt. And in California, the country's No. 2 honey producer, coastal beekeepers reported that there were almost no flowering plants in July.

The bees were fed sugar water to keep them from starving.