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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Diana Yates, University of Illinois News Bureau, April 28, 2021</span><o:p style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: inherit;"> </o:p><br>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: calibri, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); line-height: normal; background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">For more than a decade, ecologists have been warning of a downward trend in bumble bee populations across North America,
with habitat destruction a primary culprit in those losses. While efforts to preserve wild bees in the Midwest often focus on restoring native flowers to prairies, a new Illinois-based study finds evidence of a steady decline in the availability of springtime
flowers in wooded landscapes.</span><o:p style=""><span style="font-family: calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"> </span></o:p></p>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: calibri, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); line-height: normal; background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">The scarcity of early season flowers in forests – a primary food source for bumble bees at this time of year – likely
endangers the queen bees’ ability to start their nesting season and survive until other floral resources become available, researchers say. They report their findings in the Journal of Applied Ecology.</span><o:p><span style="font-family: calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"> </span></o:p></p>
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<span style="font-family: calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">Full Story: https://news.illinois.edu/view/6367/1809224114</span><o:p><span style="font-family: calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"> </span></o:p></p>
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<span style="font-family: calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">Original Research Article: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2664.13886</span><o:p style=""><span style="font-family: calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"> </span></o:p></p>
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