Chatham County resident Amy Magrinat has just started her first year as an amateur beekeeper.

Having taken a bee-keeping course at Central Carolina Community College, and having read about the mysterious disappearances of honeybees around the country, Magrinat was keen to do something.

"With all the talk of colony collapse disorder, I just wanted to do something to protect our pollinating insects," she said. "So many of the crops we eat are reliant on the honey bee for pollination."

Amy bought two hives from local supplier Jack Spratt's Bees, and she has fallen in love with them. She says the whole process has been remarkably easy and a lot of fun.

"It's almost meditative," she said. "I can spend hours with my bees just watching them."

Magrinat is, of course, also excited about making local honey, and she has placed her bees next to her vegetable garden to get the full advantage of pollination for her beans and tomatoes. She laughs at the question of whether she's been stung or not.

"Everyone asks that!" she said. "I haven't, as yet, although I'm sure that time will come. They are bees after all. Most of the time they don't even notice I'm there, unless I do something to bother them."

Studies have shown that up to one-third of the human diet is derived from insect-pollinated plants, and the honey bee is responsible for 80 percent of this pollination. A 2000 Cornell University study concluded that the direct value of honey bee pollination to U.S. agriculture is more than $14.6 billion. More than 22 U.S. states reported significant losses of honeybees in the fall of 2006 as a result of colony collapse disorder.