“There are two primary, if a bit humdrum, culprits: the varroa mite, particularly a pesticide-resistant strain, and pesticides themselves, especially a new class of ‘sublethal neonicotinoids,’ which do not kill pests but turn them into cigarette fiends, narcotized into irrelevance.” There are other causes as well, but ultimately, it’s a combination of all of them that are killing the bees. In NY Mag, David Wallace suggests that bees are, quite literally, worrying themselves to death.