Drawing rusty-bee by Frederica  Hall

rusty-bee

The rusty patched bumblebee (Bombus affinis), once a common sight, is “now balancing precariously on the brink of extinction,”according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Once thriving in 28 states and the District of Columbia, but over the past two decades, the bee’s population has plummeted nearly 90 percent.