amêndoas da Páscoa

More than 80% of the world’s almonds are grown in California and, to pollinate them, the 7,000 or so growers hire about 1.4m of America’s 2.3m commercial hives. Thousands of trucks deliver the hives in February - from Maine, Florida, the Carolinas and elsewhere - and will soon pick them up again. The bees’ job is to flit from one blossom to the next, gorging themselves and in the process spreading the trees’ sexual dust.

Since 2006, however, bees have been suffering from “colony collapse disorder” (CCD), a mysterious affliction that has drastically reduced their numbers. Its cause may be mobile-telephony radiation, viruses, fungi, mites and pesticides - or none of the above.

O mundo deve estar doido e só me faltava mais esta. Eu que sou apaixonado por amêndoas, simples ou, particularmente, cobertas de chocolate, e que só regozijo com a chegada da Páscoa por causa da tradicional fartura das ditas, vejo assim ameaçado mais um dos prazeres da vida...