ORONO (AP) — Maine is getting ready to start training citizen volunteers for its project to document the state of its bees.

Officials say the Maine Bumblebee Atlas project will help determine Maine bee range and abundance. The project’s first training workshop is slated for Saturday at the University of Maine in Orono. It is full and closed to registration.

Four bee species native to Maine have fallen from very common to rarely seen since the 1990s. State environmental officials say factors that may be contributing to declines include habitat loss, pesticides and parasites introduced through use of commercially raised bees.

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