Harnessing the power of natural history collections to guide the conservation of bumble bees

Natural history collections (NHC) are rich repositories that document our planet's ecosystems, both past and present. NHCs can be found in small town Idaho and in the bustling metropolis of New York City. Within the past decade there has been a surge to revisit NHCs to digitize specimens. In the case of the humble bumble bees, NHCs have informed the extent of their decline throughout North America, which in turn translated into conservation action at local and national levels. While NHCs are reflections of our past, they have also proven to be windows into our future.