In an alarming piece of news, it seems the bee population in the United States is taking a dive. CNN reported on February 12, 2007, that beekeepers in 22 states have claimed as much as an 80 percent loss of their bee colonies. Jerry Bromenshenk is the head of Bee Alert Technology, a business that is keeping a close watch on this problem. He reported to CNN that this is a severe and potentially devastating loss. If this continues, beekeepers will not have enough bees to rent to farmers to pollinate their crops. No one knows exactly why the bees are gone. One bee researcher at the U. S. Department of Agriculture says that parasitic mites and a lack of nectar in pollen may have done them in. Other researchers have different theories. Although the mystery has not been solved, there is some reason to hope. The January 2006 issue of Science News reported that scientists are studying species of solitary, or loner, bees. They are hoping to use them to replace the bees that have been lost.
Which sentence could be added to the first paragraph to support the main idea? A. Some of the more harmful pesticides have already been banned in Europe. B. A beekeeper keeps bees to collect honey and beeswax or pollinate crops. C. In the United States, the most common bee raised is the Western honey bee. D. Farmers could stand to lose hundreds of thousands of dollars.