Theo, thank you for looking for an answer to my question. I’ve not been able to find an answer either, but haven’t had an opportunity to do some serious research. I doubt Einstein would make such a remark without having some basis for saying it. You are right, it could well be an internet urban legend. I hope so. This is a serious issue for all of us. I have a few bee hives (hence my handle “miele” which is Italian for honey)and have not encountered the problem...yet. I’ve heard of beekeepers in Alabama (where I live) who have lost large numbers of hives yet the NY Times article on this showed no losses in Alabama.
Re: Einstein’s supposed remark. I found this information.
“Also on the Internet is a quote attributed to Albert Einstein on how humans would die off in four years if not for honeybees. It’s wrong on two counts.
First, Einstein probably never said it, according to Alice Calaprice, author of “The Quotable Einstein” and five other books on the physicist.
“I’ve never come across it in anything Einstein has written,” Calaprice said. “it could be that someone had made it up and put Einstein’s name on it.”
Source: www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8OSE3VO2&show_article=1&catnum=-1