Whoops - I linked to another forum (snopes)
Here is an excerpt:
A lot of you have probably been hearing the 'buzz' about the disappearing bees. Almost every news story prints a quote attributed to Albert Einstein. The quote goes: "If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe, then man would only have four years of life left."
I was reading DailyKos and some commenter said that Einstein did not make that quote which I'm inclined to believe. So I googled the phrase and couldn't find anything to say where it came from. I searched google groups and couldn't find any post before 2002. Since Usenet groups go way back I figured someone would have quoted it before 2002. Here is a link to the oldest story I could find with the quote:
http://www.cyberbee.net/news/mites.htm
Does anyone know if Einstein actually said this (I don't think he did) or who actually first said this? I can guess why someone would falsely attribute the quote to Einstein. Because it would carry more weight.
I did find one quote that I think can be reasonably attributed to him about bees
http://www.monthlyreview.org/598einst.htm:
"It is evident, therefore, that the dependence of the individual upon society is a fact of nature which cannot be abolished—just as in the case of ants and bees."
Google "Einstein bees" and you'll see it.