<div><p>France is to sow nectar-bearing flowers on the sides of roads in an experiment aimed at helping the honey bee, hit by an alarming worldwide decline, the ministry of sustainable development said on Tuesday. </p><p>More than 250 kilometres (155 miles) of roadside will be sown in the coming months, launching a three-year test that could be extended to the country's 12,000-kilometer (7,500-mile) network of non-toll roads, it said.</p><p>"More than 35 percent of our food is provided by pollinating insects, including bees. Protecting them also means ensuring our survival," Ecology Secretary Chantal Jouanno said.</p><p>Bee hives in parts of North America, Europe and Asia have been struck by a mysterious ailment dubbed Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD).</p><p>At normal times, bee communities naturally lose around five percent of their numbers. But in CCD, a third, a half -- sometimes even 90 percent -- of the insects can be wiped out.</p><p>The suspected culprits include a blood-sucking mite called varroa, a single-celled fungal parasite called Nosema cerenae that causes bee dysentery and pesticides used in fields that are pollinated by bees.</p><p>Other explanations include poor nutrition -- that mega farms, stripped of hedgerows and wild flowers, and spreading suburbs, with their concrete, roads and lawns, are depriving bees of a decent diet.</p><img src="http://admatch-syndication.mochila.com/images/ad.gif?aid=67280644&bid=informcom" /></div><div id="copyright"><div>

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