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by msrenee 1707 days ago
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.
1 comments

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.