Rare hairless bee spotted for first time in the Westcountry
Metro Mayor Dan Norris has hailed the discovery as 'un-bee-lievable'
For the first time ever in the Westcountry, a rare species of bee has been spotted - something the Metro Mayor Dan Norris has hailed as 'un-bee-lievable'.
The Nomad Bee - known as the Nomada zonata - was spotted by a local volunteer on Troopers Hill in Bristol as part of a project funded by the West of England Combined Authority.
It's a hairless creature with a distinctive wasp-like appearance that doesn't collect pollen for its young, but said by scientists to still be an important plant pollinator.
It was first recorded in England back in 2016, and there have been only 113 sightings of it in total - the closest one being in Stroud back in 2020.
Metro Mayor Dan Norris, who wants to make the West of England the bee and pollinator capital of the UK, said he was "thrilled" to have recorded the new species which, as a “cuckoo bee” - one that lay eggs in the nest of others - is a good sign of a “super healthy” bee population.
He said: “This is an un-bee-lievable and super-important find. It just goes to show the brilliant work my West of England Mayoral Combined Authority and our partners are doing to make our amazing West of England region the best place in the whole country for our bee buddies.”
Savita Willmott, Chief Executive of the Natural History Consortium, added: "We've had a brilliant time showing communities across the region how to find and record pollinators and other wildlife as part of our project. It just goes to show how important it is to document our wildlife - you never know what you might find!"
The ÂŁ100,000 WECA-funded project sees residents taking part in bee surveys and other pollinator activities run by the Natural History Consortium.
The scheme is funding over a dozen projects, which together are transforming over 220,000 square metres of land across the region to serve the West’s vital bee and pollinator friends.