Read the full story in the Lake County News-Sun.
Kelly Schultz peered into the lavender blooms of a bee balm plant and gasped.
Gathering nectar was a fuzzy insect with a black head and a rusty-colored patch on its yellow back.
It was the federally endangered rusty patched bumble bee.
“There were a lot of texts flying, and a lot of exclamation points,” said Schultz, a stewardship ecologist for the Lake County Forest Preserves.
She discovered the rare bumble bee at Greenbelt Forest Preserve in North Chicago on July 23 while working with volunteers removing invasive plants.
