With the Pacific Northwest bumblebee in trouble, citizen-staffed study could be a test case for conservation efforts

Boise, Idaho • Hundreds of citizen scientists have begun buzzing through locations across the Pacific Northwest seeking a better understanding about nearly 30 bumblebee species.Bumblebees, experts say, are important pollinators for wild and agricultural plants, but some species have disappeared from places where they were once common, possibly because of the same factors that have been killing honeybees.“It’s really important for us as humans to study these species systems for a