Commercial honeybees are in trouble. Since 2006, a third of all bee colonies have died from colony collapse disorder (CCD); this occurs when worker bees mysteriously disappear causing the entire colony to die. Scientists believe CCD may be the result of up to 60 environmental factors including: pesticides, disease, malnutrition, loss of habitat, and climate change.

Steve Sheppard, Department of Entomology at Washington State University and Paul Stamets, a mycologist from the Pacific Northwest are working together to save the honeybee from CCD, and they’re experimenting with an unconventional remedy: the mushroom.