Spend enough time sifting through the detritus of fake quotes that is The Internet and you'll probably see this:
If bees disappeared off the face of the earth, man would only have four years left to live.
The line is usually attributed to Einstein, and it seems plausible enough. After all, Einstein knew a lot about science and nature, and bees help us produce food. But, like much of the fearmongering out there, it's worth doing some basic debunking before you share this nugget of doom.
First, the easy part: "I've never seen anything definitively link the quote to Einstein," says Mark Dykes, the chief inspector for Texas Apiary Inspection Service. Quote checkers like this one, and this one agree. But debunking its message? That's more complicated.
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