Ahh, Halloween. Horror movies. Trick-or-treaters. And the iconic pumpkin.

 What would the holiday be without that big orange gourd?

 Well, it is time to think seriously about that question. Pumpkins are pollinated by bees. And, as we've covered in Switchboard, bees are not doing too well as mysterious phenomenon of colony collapse disorder (CCD) sweeps across the country.

No bees = no pumpkins.

No pumpkins = no jack-o-lanterns or pumpkin pies = no fun...

Luckily for this year's celebrations, we have not had troubles with CCD here in Illinois, which is the leading pumpkin producing state. But I have talked to a few farmers who have noted an increase in the cost of bringing commercial beehives onto their property. And without commercial honeybee hives, you can forget about the huge pumpkin crops we see these days ($47 million in Illinois alone). Other pollinators, especially other bees, pollinate pumpkins, but not at this scale.

But not every state has been so lucky. Utah might not be "The Beehive State" for long if its apiaries continue to be ravaged by CCD.

As NRDC's suit to get information on pesticides that may be part of the problem continues, a growing concern is being voiced around the world. There are suits and bans of chemicals in Germany. And even in places untouched by the CCD mystery here in the U.S. there is unease over the government's slow response, as noted in this recent feature about Charles Lorence of the Cook-DuPage Beekeepers Association:

While he hasn't had any trouble with his bees, Lorence is worried about colony collapse disorder (CCD), which is wiping out honey bees in the United States. Scientists have yet to find the cause. CCD's impact has been felt mostly on the East and West coasts, said Steve Chard, supervisor of apiary science for the Illinois Department of Agriculture.

Chard explained that in CCD, the adult bees disappear without a trace, leaving honey and immature bees behind. Large keepers who travel with hives from site to site to custom pollinate crops have been hit the hardest.

"There have been no confirmed cases in Illinois," said Chard.

Lorence is concerned because honey bees' work plays a role in at least a third of our food supply, pollinating plants humans and livestock eat.

"Our government can't wait until the 11th hour. We need to find out, or we risk losing crops and driving food prices even higher," said Lorence.

That is an understatement. Bees pollinate literally one out of every three mouthfuls that you stuff in your face.

If we don't get a handle on this, we are going to have much bigger problems than lame Halloweens without jack-o-lanterns...

We are going to have to look at the entire food supply...and that is as scary as it gets on Halloween.