That is a quote from California beekeeper David Bradshaw after loosing half of his nearly 100 million bees. Strange thing is, there are no remains of these creatures left behind.

Vanished into thin air, like squadron 19 over the Atlantic Ocean in 1945 without a trace. Scientist cannot conduct proper research without forensic evidence. The Queen bee and new offspring remain but it is the worker bees that go missing.

The consequences of loosing our honeybee population are devastating. Not only the economical loss of a billion dollar industry but ultimately to our food supply. Without bees pollination of plants, many plants could die off. "Every third bite we consume in our diet is dependent on a honeybee to pollinate that food," says Zac Browning, vice president of the American Beekeeping Federation.

Some have openly speculated the bees disappearance could be the result of alien abductions. That would explain the lack of dead bee carcases but why, what could Aliens possibly want with honeybees? Honey perhaps? The more popular theory is that an aids like virus that attacks the bees immune system has infected the worker bees rendering them unable to return to their colonies. The disappearances began to be discovered in 2004 shortly after Australian bees (known to have the virus) were imported into the United States by beekeepers.

One thing is for sure, these bees are essential to the food chain, and the very future of our planet may depend on discovering and fixing the missing honeybee mystery.