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Plight of the bumblebee: MSU entomologist on decline of wild bees

Wild honey bee photo
Roberto Verzo
/
flickr creative commons

Bees are essential to many of our favorite fruits and vegetables, and it’s not just honeybees doing all the work. Wild bees are also major crop pollinators. A new study suggests that the population of those bees may be declining in the U.S. We learn more from Rufus Issacs, professor of entomology at Michigan State University and co-author of the study.

The decline of honeybees in the United States has been a hot topic lately. Farmers, economists, and President Barack Obama have all been vocal about the economic and ecological risks of the species’ declining population. But honeybees aren’t the only pollinators we should be worried about, according to a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Wild bees are seeing their numbers decrease, too.

Current State talks with MSU entomology professor Rufus Issacs, who co-authored the study.

This segment is supported by Michigan State University's Knight Center for Environmental Journalism. More news about the Great Lakes environment can be found at GreatLakesEcho.org and on Current State every Tuesday as part of our partnership.

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