Entomologist May Berenbaum has canceled her visit to UC Davis this week, due to illness, but a UC Davis expert has stepped in with a lecture of his own on the plight of the honeybee, the Department of Entomology announced.

The public is invited to hear Eric Mussen address the topic at 5:30 p.m. Oct. 9 in Ballroom A of the Activities and Recreation Center. A reception is set for 5 p.m. in the same room. Admission is free.

Berenbaum also was scheduled to present a lecture on Oct. 10, in the opening event of the Department of Entomology's Distinguished Seminar Series. That event has been canceled altogether, the department announced.

For her Oct. 9 public lecture, the University of Illinois scientist had planned to give a talk titled "BSI: The Case of the Disappearing Bees," with "BSI" a takeoff on television's CSI crime shows.

Mussen, an internationally known expert on honeybees, is using the same title for his lecture -- but it will be his material. He plans to discuss the pollinator crisis and advances in entomology that provide hope for the future of America's bees.

In January, Mussen received the American Association of Professional Apiculturists Award for Apicultural Excellence for his bee industry leadership and apicultural research publications. Also, the California State Beekeepers Association named him Beekeeper of the Year for his regional, state and national contributions to the beekeeping industry.

His research interests are managing honeybees and wild bees for maximum field production, while minimizing pesticide damage to pollinator populations.

In advance publicity for her lecture, Berenbaum said: "Close to 100 crop plants in the United States rely on a single pollinator -- the honeybee -- to survive and reproduce.

"Over the past year, the mysterious disappearance of one-third of America's honeybees, due to what has become known as colony collapse disorder, has focused attention on how little is known about U.S. pollinators and how dependent we are upon them."

Walter Leal, professor and chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology, said honeybee colony collapse disorder "is one of the most intriguing problems in agricultural entomology. We at the Department of Entomology at UC Davis are very interested in finding a solution for this problem as California is bearing the biggest economic consequences of this crisis."

Kathy Keatley Garvey is a communications specalist with the Department of Entomology.