DUBLIN — A large segment Ireland's bumble bee species is facing extinction.
According to the Irish Times, one third of Ireland's 98 bumble bee species are facing extinction. The Irish Mirror reports that 21 species of bees are crucial to the environment as they provide pollination for crops and flowers.
An ecologist told the Irish Mirror that prior to 1960, rare species like the great yellow bumble bee, red-shanked carder bee and shrill carder bee used to be present across Ireland.
Reasons for the dwindling bee population, according to the Irish Mirror, are habitat loss, pesticides, climate change and starvation brought about by a decline in wildflowers.
