id="article-body" class="row" section="article-body"> MSU entomologist Thomas Wood 

Michigan State University It seems honey bees get all the buzzworthy headlines these days due to their declining numbers, but challenges faced by the humble bumblebee are getting some serious attention too.

In a study conducted by Michigan State University and published in Ecology: Ecological Society of America on Tuesday, scientists researched the diets of 12 bumblebee species to try to determine if their eating habits could be contributing to their dwindling numbers.  

The study compared current distributions of bumblebee species across Michigan, from the modern-day bumblebee to museum specimens dating back as far as the 1880s. 

The research shows that half of the bumblebee species studied have declined by more than 50 percent. This isn't too surprising considering that in 2017, the rusty patched bumblebee was the first bumblebee in the United States to be listed as endangered. 

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