The orchards and fields of Illinois are usually a hive of activity this time of year. Farmers depend on their little black-and-yellow flying friends to do their jobs as pollinators and as honey producers. But because of the unusually harsh winter, honeybee keepers lost nearly 70 percent of their bees. So what does that mean for the bee biz and for the region’s farms? Dr. Gene Robinson is the Director of the Bee Research Facility and the Director of the Institute for Genomic Biology; Swanlund Chair of Entomology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Corky Schnadt is the President of Northern Illinois Beekeepers Association and Secretary of Illinois State Beekeepers Association. Photo: Flickr/ Dakiny