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by StanislavPetrov 1716 days ago
Anecdotally I live in New York and have seen plenty of bumblebees this year.
4 comments

There are a lot of species people call bumblebees. This one particular species, Bombus pensylvanicus, has disappeared from much of its range. You may be seeing insects that are called bumblebees, but not likely the species being talked about in the article. If you do have the knowledge and experience to be certain that you are seeing lots of Bombus pensylvanicus in particular, get in contact with your nearest Fish and Wildlife Service office. That's a big deal.
Quite. Also its way more complicated than that. I'm not an apiarist per se but I am interested in them - an interested amateur if you like.

To me there are roughly three classes of bee: There are honey bees, which are the ones that are farmed by humans ie domesticated. They live in colonies of around 50,000 in mostly man made hives. There are wild bees that naturally form colonies. Bumblebees for example, live in colonies of around 20 to 2000 individuals. Finally we have the solitary bees. These do not form colonies at all.

What is happening is that various species of really useful insects are being wiped out. This isn't just in the US but everywhere.

This is perhaps the situation in the UK: https://post.parliament.uk/research-briefings/post-pn-0619/ feel free to grab the report and read it. It's not pretty reading.

Is this type of comment helpfully, generally? Ancedotes are typically ignores because they don't show the full picture. If we have verifiable evidence of a staggering decline in population of a given species, "yeah well I've seen plenty of 'em!" doesn't seem particularly useful - to the larger discussion, toward any sort of objective "truth," or really... anything.
Anecdotes can be useful in aggregate, where they can validate or give reason to question a claim. There is a lot of sloppy science and reporting on environmental subjects like these - look at the stuff about feral cats being a danger to songbirds estimating annual predation levels higher than the regional songbird population.
Can I get a link to the feral cat info you're talking about? My Google skills are weak.
As much for the full picture, i come to hn for the anecdotes. So yes, 'useful', to me.

And, just to be super-clear, i come for the comments, and rarely the articles.

So even though you have no way of knowing if the species of bee this person is seeing is the same one in the article, you find the information valuable?
Probably Bombus impatiens. I see them all over my property in the Finger Lakes.
There are at least 17 species of bumblebees in New York.