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Hello, this is Six Minute English from BBC Learning English, I'm Neil.
And I'm Sam.
How are you, Neil?
Oh, I've been as busy as a bee this week, Sam.
Ah, don't you sound like the bee's knees.
All right, Sam.
There's no need to get a bee in your bonnet.
As you can hear, English is full of idioms involving bees.
But the sad truth is that bee numbers are declining at an alarming rate and in some places disappearing altogether.
And this has serious consequences for humans.
Today, one third of the food we eat depends on insects to pollinate crops,
fruit and vegetables.
But bees are in trouble.
In some European countries, up to half of all bee species are facing extinction, placing our food supply chain at risk.
Bees are vital in pollinating hundreds of crops from apples and blackberries to cucumbers.
In fact, almost all plants need insects to reproduce,
which is my quiz question.
Of the world's top 50 crops, how many rely on insect pollination?