Rare Nomad Bee recorded in Bristol for the first time ever

A rare species of bee has been recorded in Bristol for the first time ever.

The Nomad Bee was spotted by a local volunteer on Troopers Hill in Bristol as part of a project funded by the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority.

The bee which has a distinctive wasp-like appearance, is hairless and does not collect pollen for its young.

It is still an important pollinator of plants, fruit trees and wildflowers.

The bee was first recorded in England in 2016 and since then there have been 113 recorded sightings. The last sighting was in Stroud in 2020.

Metro Mayor Dan Norris said he was "thrilled" to have recorded the new species which is a good sign of a “super healthy” bee population in general. 

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!"

Earlier this year another rare bee was spotted in the West Country. The brown-banded carder bee was rediscovered on the South Devon Coast as part of the 'Life on the Edge' project.

The project is attempting to help rediscover more than 30 threatened species including the last known colony of the six-banded nomad bee and the long-horned bee.