Peter L Borst wrote: > What is odd is that only certain species of bumble > bee seem to be in decline while others are thriving Yes and and some bumble bee species continue to be abundant in Poncho (clothianidin) country (corn & soybean monocultures of the upper midwest USA). In fact it is rather easy to capture photos of two or more of them nectaring on wildflowers growing along the margins of the crops: On Aug. 18, 2009, for example, I took these photos in southwestern Minnesota near the town of Morris, MN: Close-up view: http://i959.photobucket.com/albums/ae78/18R-C/montea.jpg Landscape view: http://i959.photobucket.com/albums/ae78/18R-C/monteb.jpg Close-up view: http://i959.photobucket.com/albums/ae78/18R-C/2beesb.jpg Landscape view: http://i959.photobucket.com/albums/ae78/18R-C/2beesa.jpg Paul Cherubini *********************************************** The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html Guidelines for posting to BEE-L can be found at: http://honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm