What was the context behind Einstein's statement on the disappearance of the honey bees?

Question

Albert Einstein made a shocking statement to the world that if honey bees die/disappear off the surface of the globe, then man only has 4 years of life left on Earth. Whether his statement becomes true or not, honey bees are disappearing on a global mass scale.

Einstein just didn't make an off-the-cuff remark about the disappearance of honey bees. Was he carrying out some sort of a study or experiment on honey bees? Was Einstein making a prediction? What lead Einstein to make such a conclusion?

I want to see a special 60-minute video on Einstein's statement on the disappearance of the honey bees. A good reliable source is appreciated. Thank you.

Answer 1

When you consider that the majority of pollination of plants is undertaken by our little black and yellow friends, the loss of the bees will lead to the loss of plant reproduction.  The loss of plant reproduction (especially food crops) will lead to loss of food for other life forms such as birds - who carry the seeds to further places.

This therefore means that eventually there will be no food for the birds, cattle, and sheep that we eat.  Unless we can find a way to mass fertilise all the crops we need there will be no food for us - hence extinction in about 4 years.

Answer 2

http://www.snopes.com/quotes/einstein/be...

Answer 3

Simply put, bees pollinate.  Without bees to spread the seed of plants, many species would slowly die, killing animals that feed on them, then killing animals that feed on them, then killing animals that feed on them....then people.  We would resort to living off of marine animals but shortly the oceans would be exhausted and we would parish.