Includes bibliographical references (p. 230-237) and index.

Foreword -- Acknowledgments --1: To bee or not to bee -- 2: Colony collapse disorder -- 3: Potential impact of colony collapse disorder -- 4: It's not the cell phones- -- 5: It's not the mites or a virus- -- 6: French say they know why -- 7: Return of the bees! -- 8: America in the dark -- 9: Civilization collapse disorder -- 10: Farmer solution -- 11: Taking your home and lawn organic -- 12: Organic golf, anyone? -- 13: Beekeeper solution -- 14: Plant a bee garden and they will come -- 15: Plan bee -- Appendixes -- Appendix 1: Notes -- Appendix 2: Beekeeper letter to EU commission -- Appendix 3: FIFRA section 18 exemptions for imidacloprid (IMD)-EPA -- Appendix 4: Section 18 of federal insecticide, fungicide, and rodenticide act (FIFRA) -- Appendix 5: Colony collapse disorder in the United States -- Appendix 6: Farmer solutions -- Appendix 7: Organic home and garden solutions -- Appendix 8: Beekeeper solutions for mites and bees health -- Appendix 9: List of foods pollinated by bees -- Index.

From the Publisher: A century after the birth of Rachel Carson, the world faces a new environmental disaster, from a chemical similar to DDT. This time the culprit appears to be IMD, or imidacloprid, a relatively new but widely used insecticide in the United States. Many beekeepers and researchers blame IMD for Colony Collapse Disorder, which has wiped out 23% of America's beehives. Even trace amounts make bees unable to fly back to their hive. Since honeybees are essential to the production of most major food crops, their demise could spell catastrophe. In a riveting, scientific/political detective story, Michael Schacker examines the evidence and offers a plan to save the bees. Like An Inconvenient Truth and Silent Spring, A Spring without Bees is both a powerful cautionary tale and a call to action.