Now Bumblebees Are Disappearing, Too. 

"Without bumblebees, I would be out of business. I don't think I could hand-pollinate all these plants."

- Tony Davis, Quail Run Farm, Grants Pass, Oregon

October 13, 2007  Davis, California - Another scientific mystery is expanding: the disappearance of pollinators in North America. First, it was the massive disappearance of at least 25% of all the honey bees in the United States and Canada this past year in what is called Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). Now it is the severe decline of four bumblebee species that used to be prevalent on the West and East coasts of the U. S. and Canada – but now scientists can’t find them. In fact, one species known as Bombus franklini – or Franklin’s Bumblebee – might be extinct. And it’s all happened since 1994.