An estimated 25,000 bumblebees and many other pollinators have been killed by suspected pesticide poisoning in a Target parking lot in Wilsonville, Oregon. This is the single, largest known incident of bumblebee deaths in America.
Photo: Motoya Nakamura/The Oregonian The bees have been dying, dropping from trees, since Saturday and, as of this afternoon, bees are still dying, The Oregonian reports. The bees were still dying on Wednesday. Yellow-faced bees fell from the trees, twitching on their backs or wandering in tight circles on the asphalt. Some honeybees and ladybugs were also found dead. A few dead bumblebees even clung to linden flowers, while hundreds littered the lot. "Bumblebees are the single most important natural pollinator in Oregon," said Mace Vaughan, pollinator program director for the Xerces Society.↧