Want a one-serving fruit pie cup with honey baked right into the crust? Then we must be fellow Pushing Daisies fans -- so I assume you saw the first episode this season, in which Chuck the beekeeper's bees all die due to errant pesticides!

That, sadly, is happening in real life too -- though the reasons aren't so clear as in the TV version. Our once busy bees are now buzzing away in a mysterious disappearing phenomenon dubbed colony collapse disorder -- and in real life, we've got no piemaker to touch dead bees back to life (No idea how a piemaker can perform bee reincarnations? Watch Pushing Daisies at ABC.com then come back).

A third or so of our bees have already vanished, which has farmers stressing out, scientists scrambling to find the cause and cure, and activists doing everything from creating buzzy documentaries to bee-friendly gardens. Here are a few ways you can join the work to help bring back the bees, hopefully:

>> Buy local honey. Farmers' markets and local co-op markets often carry local honey and honey products. My current jar of honey comes from Bill's Bees, Angeles National Forest, Calif.

>> Plant a sunflower! Want to help with CCD research? The Great Sunflower Project, brainchild of an associate professor at San Francisco State, asks you to plant a native sunflower plant (seeds provided), then note twice a month how long it takes 5 bees to visit it. Project's over for this year, but you can sign up for 2009. (via eatlocalchallenge)

>> Create a bee-friendly habitat in your front or back yard. Pablo of Salon.com offers some helpful tips, from avoiding harmful pesticides to planting showy flowers.

>> Consider supporting bee-friendly companies like Haagen Dazs, Burt's Bees, Almond Board of California by buying their products. However, as BlogHer contributing editor Elana Centor hints at in her post, you may want to consider how solid the companies' commitment to this cause is before spending your money.

>> Be nice to neighborhood bees. If despite CCD, you're seeing way to many bees around your place, make them move away in a friendly manner. In Los Angeles, David, "a Bee Man" in the LA-area, will safely relocate unwanted bees to local bee farms. Look for a similar service in your own area.

Photo by law_keven