Did Einstein really say

[pscot]

that if the bees disappeared food crops and humans would shortly follow? Over at Snopes, thet seem to think not. The quote apparently first appeared in 1994, and was attributed to a French newspaper.
http://www.snopes.com/quotes/einstein/bees.asp

[MADem]

1. If Snopes says no, I'd say they're right. In any event, they've found the problems

with the bees--it is no longer a mystery. It's fungii, virii, and in Hawaii, mites.

Now they have to set about fixing it.

I never recalled Einstein as being terribly interested in bees, at any rate!

I agree with Snopes's take on the quote.

[Buzz Clik]

2. Well, I'm not sure this was Einstein's area of expertise. However...

... the collapse of the bee hives has been alarming, and the consequences will likely be severe.

Interestingly, we have plenty of other nectar-oriented insects buzzing around our house, but no honey bees. (I haven't seen more than two or three honey bees per year in Indiana for nearly three years.) I wonder if the hysteria over the Africanized bees from a decade or two ago somehow led to this.

[El Supremo]

3. Thanks. That quote has been everywhee lately.

I don't believe anything anymore without proper references.

[Boojatta]

4. Check this book

http://www.amazon.com/Meaning-Relativity-Albert-Einstein/dp/0691023522

Surely what Einstein wrote and revised for publication is more important than what people say they heard him mutter while he was shaving or eating breakfast.

[louis-t]

5. What he uttered while shaving or eating breakfast

was infinitely more important than anything boosh has ever said.