[Pollinator] 25,000 bumblebees killed, dropping from trees in Wilsonville; pesticide suspected

[Paul Cherubini]

1) The 25,000 dead bees figure may be very exaggerated because there are only 55 Linden 
trees in the Target store parking lot and likely only dozens of bumblebees per tree.  So 
that means only hundreds of bumblebees likely died.  No one to date has posted 
photos of thousands of dead bees under the Linden trees.

2) Collisions with cars likely kill hundreds of bumblebees PER (sunny) DAY in 
Wilsonsonville. So this parking lot kill is minor and trivial by comparison.

3) The fact that there were at least hundreds of bumblebees nectaring in the 
Target store parking lot Linden trees shows bumblebees are abundant in the
region despite urbanization and associated pesticide use and daily car 
collision kills.  Here's a google earth street view of the Target store 
parking lot and it's little European Linden trees:
https://imageshack.com/a/img11/6860/7r9n.jpg

Paul Cherubini
El Dorado, Calif.