Now, children, come on over here. I'm going to tell you a bedtime story. Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin.
Once upon a time, there lived a magnificent race of animals that dominated the world through age after age. They ran, they swam, and they fought and they flew, until suddenly, quite recently, they disappeared. Nature just gave up and started again. We weren't even apes then. We were just these smart little rodents hiding in the rocks. And when we go, nature will start over.
With the bees, probably.
Nature knows when to give up.