Uploaded March 2017 | Updated September 2026, 4 hours ago
(Updated since original video was published on September 27, 2016.)
Despite swift population declines, this native bee has never received formal protection. Can a listing save it from extinction?
There are 47 varieties of native bumble bee in the United States and Canada, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) estimates that more than a quarter of those species face the threat of extinction. But unlike honeybees—an imported species from Europe whose recent mass deaths have been well publicized and extensively researched—bumble bees receive scant attention. If the federal listing of the rusty patched bumble bee proceeds, however, that may change: It would be the first native bee in the continental United States to be protected under the Endangered Species Act.
Video by Day's Edge Productions. Read the full story here: bit.ly/2cU4GD3
___
Discover more beautiful and surprising stories about nature and sustainability at biographic.com
* Facebook: biographic.magazine
* Instagram: @biographic_magazine
* Twitter: @bioGraphic
(Updated since original video was published on September 27, 2016.)
Despite swift population declines, this native bee has never received formal protection. Can a listing save it from extinction?
There are 47 varieties of native bumble bee in the United States and Canada, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) estimates that more than a quarter of those species face the threat of extinction. But unlike honeybees—an imported species from Europe whose recent mass deaths have been well publicized and extensively researched—bumble bees receive scant attention. If the federal listing of the rusty patched bumble bee proceeds, however, that may change: It would be the first native bee in the continental United States to be protected under the Endangered Species Act.
Video by Day's Edge Productions. Read the full story here: bit.ly/2cU4GD3
___
Discover more beautiful and surprising stories about nature and sustainability at biographic.com
* Facebook: biographic.magazine
* Instagram: @biographic_magazine
* Twitter: @bioGraphic
