Alternate:Words

Bumblebee, where art thee?, originally uploaded by Thorsten Becker.

The joy of buzzing sounds
Will fade away
Where knowledge is lacking

© Thorsten Becker

The bumblebee is one of those insects we enjoy seeing in our gardens and parks and even though it has a stinger we know that it is rather docile and not aggressive. But what else do we know about it and its importance to our environment? For starters, how about that in the US the bumblebee was once the predominant pollinator and that the honey bee was imported? And just like the honey bee the bumblebee is starting to disappear now. I recommend reading this article by Jane Ritz titled "The Plight of the Bumblebee". Below is an excerpt:

"With all the focus on the disappearance of the honeybee, there has not been as much discussion regarding the plight of the bumblebee, one of the hardest workers in the wild world of agriculture, despite this warning issued by the National Academy of Sciences in October of 2006. That may now change as word comes from scientists that at least one bumblebee species from the Northwestern U.S., Franklin's Bumblebee, may have gone extinct."

Learn more about bumblebees.

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