  The controversy about the cause(s) of abnormal death of bee colonies in
France is investigated through an extensive analysis of the french speaking
press. A statistical analysis of textual data is first performed on the lexicon
used by journalists to describe the facts and to present associated
informations during the period 1998-2010. Three states are identified to
explain the phenomenon. The first state asserts a unique cause, the second one
focuses on multifactor causes and the third one states the absence of current
proof. Assigning each article to one of the three states, we are able to follow
the associated opinion dynamics among the journalists over 13 years. Then, we
apply the Galam sequential probabilistic model of opinion dynamic to those
data. Assuming journalists are either open mind or inflexible about their
respective opinions, the results are reproduced precisely provided we account
for a series of annual changes in the proportions of respective inflexibles.
The results shed a new counter intuitive light on the various pressure supposed
to apply on the journalists by either chemical industries or beekeepers and
experts or politicians. The obtained dynamics of respective inflexibles shows
the possible effect of lobbying, the inertia of the debate and the net
advantage gained by the first whistleblowers.
