Large-Scale Study Reveals Major Decline in Bumble Bees in US

Science Daily, Jan 3, 2011

ScienceDaily (Jan. 3, 2011) — The first in-depth national study of wild bees in the U.S. has uncovered major losses in the relative abundance of several bumble bee species and declines in their geographic range since record-keeping began in the late 1800s.

"We have 50 species of bumble bees in North America. We've studied eight of them and four of these are significantly in trouble," said University of Illinois entomology professor Sydney Cameron, who led the study. "They could potentially recover; some of them might. But we only studied eight. This could be the tip of the iceberg," she said.

"This could be the tip of the iceberg"

I think the good professor is right.

Albert Einstein is quoted as saying, "If the bee disappears off the surface of the globe, then man would only have four years of life left."

Personally, I think more resources should be allocated to study this problem in a more comprehensive manner. Of the 50 species in North America, only 8 were included in the study. It was found that 4 of the species studied have declined as much as 96% and they still aren't sure what is causing this.

Are we all just "dead men walking"?

Sad really, here's another one:

nz.news.yahoo.com...

Read the first comment. That's why I don't feel good about mowing, not that I'm lazy!