Bumblebee Blues

Bumblebee Blues

David Sparks Ph.D.
David Sparks Ph.D.
Eight years ago, I talked to then Idaho Honey Industry Association's Bill Ahaus about chemicals that mortally affect bees: "It's a symbiotic relationship. Two chemicals that by themselves don't kill bees, when they are present together, they become toxic." Well the Associated Press recently had a headline article: "Bumblebee blues: Pacific Northwest pollinator in trouble. In the article, it was stated that hundreds of citizen scientists have begun buzzing through locations across the Pacific Northwest seeking a better understanding about nearly 30 bumblebee species. Some species have disappeared from places where they were once common, possibly because of the same factors that have been killing honeybees. Apparently citizen scientists are being dispatched to selected 2.5 acre sites with insect nets, plant and be guides, and an app for smart phones so findings can be recorded, photographed, mapped and sent to a central database
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