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CHERYLSENTER—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. speaks at the Friends of the Earth Action press conference in Concord, N.H., on Saturday. ByLisaLerer TheAssociatedPress WASHINGTON TheDemo- cratic National Committee unveiled plans on Thurs- day to hold six presiden- tial debates starting this fall, with the first sched- uled for Oct. 13 in Nevada. With Republicans fo- cusing on their first de- bate, Thursday night in Cleveland, Democrats re- leased plans for a far-less- crowded schedule. So far, former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Vermont Sen. Ber- nie Sanders, former Mary- land Gov. Martin O'Malley, former Virginia Sen. Jim Webb and former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee are scheduled to partici- pate in the officially sanc- tioned forums. Vice President Joe Biden's staff has been kept informed about the sched- uling but has not commit- ted to attending, accord- ing to Democrats involved with the process. They spoke on condition of an- onymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss private conversa- tions. Recent conversations between Biden associates and Democratic donors and operatives have led to speculation that Biden might challenge Clin- ton, though he has not announced a decision to his staff or said publicly whether he plans to run. "There's always room for the sitting vice presi- dent if he chooses to run," said DNC chairwoman Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz. "In fact, there's room for anyone at this point." Four debates are sched- uled in early primary states before the Iowa caucuses on Feb. 1, a number con- sidered too few by candi- dates challenging Clinton for the nomination. Dates for the final two gather- ings, planned for Wiscon- sin and Miami, have not been set, but the commit- tee said they will be held in February or March. In addition to the Octo- ber forum, debates will be held Nov. 14 in Des Moines, Iowa; Dec. 19 in Manches- ter, New Hampshire, and Jan. 17 in Charleston, South Carolina. The debates, Wasser- man Schultz said, will "give caucusgoers and pri- mary voters ample oppor- tunity to hear from our candidates about their vi- sion for our country's fu- ture." Both Sanders and O'Malley are pushing for more official forums to challenge Clinton, the front-runner. Dems plan 6 primary de ba te s, s ta rt in g in O ct . 2016 CAMPAIGN By Patrick Whittle The Associated Press APPLETON, MAINE Mad as a hornet, a bumblebee buzzes her wings in vain against the walls of the vial holding her captive. She alights briefly on the paper tab indicating her number, and then resumes scuttling around her plastic prison. Her warden is Shaina Helsel, one soldier in a cit- izen army that is taking a census of Maine's bumble- bees in an effort to secure the future of the state's blueberries, cranberries and tomatoes amid concern about the population of pol- linators. "Time, location, elevation play a factor in what species are where," says Helsel, a bi- ology student at University of Maine at Augusta. "It's an interesting thing, going out and finding a bunch of different bumblebees. I've so far collected 105." The project is among a growing number of "citizen science" efforts around the country that are designed to motivate the public to gather data about pollina- tors. The Great Pollinator Project of New York City tallied nearly 1,500 observa- tions of the city's more than 200 bee species from 2007 to 2010. Across the conti- nent, scientists and stu- dents at Washington State University also have tried to galvanize the public to col- lect data about bees, and more efforts are abuzz else- where. Maine's counting effort is called the Maine Bum- blebee Atlas, and it has a budget of about $50,000. The state has been using its website, press releases, newspaper announcements and social media to recruit volunteers — and it's been wildly successful. The state has signed up 106 volunteers, has an- other 150 in the queue and even had to turn peo- ple away from two booked- up training sessions, says Beth Swartz, biologist for the state Department of In- land Fisheries and Wildlife. Volunteers include bank- ers, teachers, students and retired paper mill workers, she says — everyone from tree-loving conservation- ists to "people whose pro- fessional lives are not any- where near focused on the outdoors." The first training ses- sion for Maine's citizen sci- entists was in May, and an- other took place in July, to be followed by another in spring 2016. The project is expected to last five years. The residents collect "obser- vational data" about bum- blebees and their habitats, while a specialist identifies the specimens they collect, Swartz says. The national conversa- tion about bee die-offs has largely centered on hon- eybees, which are differ- ent from the furry, chunky bumblebees. The Bee In- formed Partnership said this year that about 5,000 beekeepers reported los- ing more than 40 percent of their honeybee colonies during a yearlong period that ended in April. The numbers are trou- bling because of the bil- lions of dollars in value honeybees provide to agri- culture every year as polli- nators. Scientists have cited factors that could be accel- erating honeybee deaths, including parasites, pesti- cides, and poor nutrition from a lack of diversity in pollen and nectar sources. In Maine, the focus is specifically on bumble- bees, and state officials say species that are in decline have suffered from habi- tat loss, pesticides, and dis- eases and parasites intro- duced through commer- cially raised bumblebees. Maine has 17 known na- tive bumblebee species, and four of them became rarely observed starting in the 1990s, biologists say. Data are poor on the status of the other 13, and officials say a multi-year statewide survey will better assess the pop- ulation, range and abun- dance of the bees, which are key pollinators of wildflow- ers and some of the state's most important crops. Engaging the public to collect data about the bees is a step toward conserving them, says Swartz. "People are interested in the plight of the bees; bumblebees are interesting and charismatic," she says. "Some of their work will give us quantitative data; we'll be able to tell if that particularly species is de- clining or increasing." The status of bumble- bees has generated concern around the country because the southern borders of their territories have crept northward over the past 40 years. Scientists say pop- ulations have declined or are disappearing because of warming weather. COLLECTING DATA To bee, or not to bee: This is no bumbling insect audit ROBERT F. BUKATY — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Volunteer Shaina Helsel prepares to capture a bumblebee on a field in Togus, Maine. REDBLUFF Alloffersforalimitedtime.Notallbuyerswillqualifyforindividualprograms.SeeRedBluffChrysler/Jeep/Dodge/Ramforcompletedetailsandvehiclequalificationsforallcurrentlyrunningprograms.0%and1.9%APRfinancingarenot applicable on these new selected models. All rebates in lieu of special APRs offered by Chrysler. All prices plus government fees and taxes, any finance charge, any dealer document, preparation charge, and any emission charge. Subject to prior sales & credit approval. 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