> Even the information about bee health seems to come from the USA, "the global number of bee colonies has actually remained stable over the past 15 years" (unsubstantiated). 

Is this a coherent sentence? The global numbers do not come from the USA, they come from the FAO. There is no bee decline among populations in the southern hemisphere. The regions with the highest declines are Europe and North America, where most reporters seem to live. 

In these areas colony numbers depend on a thriving beekeeping industry which in turn depends on demand. If there is low demand for honey and pollination, numbers decline. That is, except in regions with thriving feral populations, such as Asia, Africa and South America. 

I would suggest that people in both Europe and North America ought to open their eyes a bit and become aware of the global picture. China is the world's largest producer of apples. 

production in tonnes

 China      35,987,221
 USA	        4,272,840
 India	2,891,000
 Turkey	2,680,080
 Poland	2,493,080
 Italy	        2,411,200

They are number two in citrus

 Brazil	20,682,309
 China	19,617,100
 USA	        10,017,000
 Mexico	6,851,000
 India	6,286,000
 Spain	5,703,600

China is number one in honey production

China     398,000 (26%)
EU         203,600 (13%) 
Africa     179,400 (12%)
Turkey    81,115 (5.3%)
USA        79,800 (5.2%) 
Ukraine   70,800 (4.6%) 

Argentina is also a major honey producer, but extreme climatic conditions such as drought and floods caused production to drop from 110,000 MTs to 59,000 MTs (or by 46%) from 2005-2010.

* * * 

> Chinese farm production rose to $759,94 billion in 2008, the latest year for which figures are available, from $584,25 billion in 2007, according to a note by the WTO secretariat, circulated on the WTO website and dated February 23.

> The latest figure for the 27-member European Union's food output is $248,69 billion in 2000, the year China overtook it with $268,15 billion. Figures from some individual EU members suggest the EU may have regained the lead a year or so later only for China to pull ahead again conclusively by mid-decade.

> US agricultural production was $311,23 billion in 2007, the latest year for which data are available, up from $246,57 billion in 2006 - China was already ahead of the US in 1995 when the WTO series starts.

No excuse for not being aware of the global economy

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