Häagen-Dazs, the luxury ice-cream brand, has become the first large food company to fund research into honey bee “colony collapse disorder” – the mystery syndrome blamed for the destruction of about 25 per cent of the US bee population since late 2006.

The brand, owned in the US by Nestlé, is making a $250,000 grant (€170,000, £130,000) to university researchers in California and Pennsylvania.

Katti Pien of Häagen-Dazs said almost 40 per cent of the brand’s flavours were dependent on bee pollination and could be threatened by CCD. Bees pollinate ingredients in about a third of the food consumed in the US.

“Ice-cream is a small part of it. The bigger issue is the food supply for the whole country,” she said.

Widespread bee colony collapses started appearing in the US in late 2006, with adult bees abandoning hives before the hatching of a new brood. Scientists have yet to explain the phenomenon. Theories advanced range from the introduction of new viruses or fungi to environmental factors such as genetically engineered crops or electromagnetic waves from mobile phone towers.

An estimated 1,500 to 2,000 professional beekeepers rent out hives to growers during the blossom season for crops ranging from almonds to apples. A typical professional beekeeper operates between 2,000 and 3,000 hives and will transport bees in trucks across different states according to the season.

The industry is trying to establish whether the outbreak is a cyclical phenomenon – similar to past periods of bee die-offs – or a substantial developing threat.