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Agriculture department investigating Portland bee die-off
By Associated Press
Published: Jun 27, 2015 at 3:31 PM PDT



PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - The fifth mass bee death in Portland in the past several days has state investigators on the hunt for a cause.

The Oregonian reports that dead and dying bumblebees littered the sidewalk in some parts of the city.

Oregon Department of Agriculture lead pesticide investigator Mike Odenthal says lab results from the earlier die-offs are expected next week.

He says the department is trying to find out whether humans did something to the bees with a pesticide or pollutant or whether there's something strange going on with the linden tree blossoms the pollinators had been feeding on.

Every major bee die-off reported to the agriculture department in the past few years has taken place near the trees, which are often sprayed with chemicals to control