why are bees dying?

Capuchin

I assume you are talking about colony collapse disorder. Nobody really knows why it happens, and nobody really knows if it is happening more in the current climate. Many of the claimed instances of colony collapse disorder may not in fact be such.

There are many hypotheses of what causes this, the most likely being pesticides or pathogens.

Thomas1970

Haven't read much about it myself, though I know it had been speculated relatively recently that cell phones emissions (radiation) could be one possible link, interfering with the bees homing abilities, disorienting them -- fewer bees successfully finding their way back to their hives.

Capuchin

Yes, thomas, the media has kindly blown that hypothesis out of all proportion. It's entirely speculative and no research has been done to prove the link.

asking

I remember reading about how bees navigate, and my memory is that it's by the angle of the sun relative to the hive and the flowers. So I don't see how emfs from cell phones would affect that. It would have to prevent bees from doing their dance properly, which is how they tell the other bees where the nectar flowers are. Seems unlikely.

A 2004 National Geographic article says the decline of honey bees is due to parasites that carry diseases and also pesticides sprayed on crops. I'm pretty sure NG is very well fact checked, so I would believe this.

The article says:
The honeybee decline, which is affecting domesticated and wild bee populations around the world, is mostly the result of diseases spread as a result of mites and other parasites as well as the spraying of crops with pesticides, scientists say.
<http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/10/1005_041005_honeybees.html>