Helping Bumblebees

摘要

In December, one of Minnesota's declining bumblebee species, the rusty-patched bumblebee (Bombus affinis), was declared endangered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service because of a dramatic decline in its population over the past two decades. In Minnesota, rusty-patched bumblebees are more common in the greater Twin Cities area than outstate.It is the first bee species in the continental United States to be declared endangered, but it is unlikely to be the last. Of the 48 bumblebee species in North America, several are considered to be in decline because of pesticides, loss of habitat, disease and climate change.