In the past few decades, more and more animal species have become extinct, and things are worrisome, especially for the years to come. However, we are here to share some good news. The blue bee, which was supposed to be extinct for a few years, has recently been sighted in Florida for the past few months.
Last known sighting
The Blue Calamintha Bee was last seen in 2016, and since then, it wasn’t sighted anywhere in the United States. That’s why many considered it to be extinct, but thankfully that’s not the case for this amazing bee. These bees are usually nesting alone, and they rely on the Ashe’s Calamint, which is also a threatened plant that can only survive in Florida.
These blue bees were observed initially in 2011, and they dropped under the radar for a few years, then came back. As we mentioned above, it’s been a few years now since we last saw these bees. What makes the Blue Calamintha Bee different is the fact that it has unusual facial hairs. Those are used for pollen collection. That, combined with the blue coloring, made these bees stand out of the crowd. They continue to be some of the most impressive bees out there.
What makes the Blue Calamintha Bee unique?
Unlike other bees, the Blue Calamintha Bee collects pollen on the face. They also live around the Lake Wales Ridge Habitat, and that’s pretty much it. This is an extremely rare bee, so it was easy to see why people thought it was extinct when no one was able to see it near its habitat.
Why would a bee choose only this habitat? Maybe the most crucial aspect here is the fact that the region has an ancient history. It comes with sand dune areas that were underwater for a very long time. That managed to create a fascinating, different habitat that led to isolating many of these animals.
Finding the Blue Calamintha Bee is difficult due to the Pandemic, but there’s also the fact that this bee is nesting alone. It doesn’t live in hives, so finding the nest of an individual bee is extremely difficult. The known footprint for the bee was on four properties, but now the Blue Calamintha Bee was seen on ten properties. The extended footprint helps a lot when it comes to increasing its exposure.
We still don’t know the total population for the Blue Calamintha Bee, but it’s a rather low number. The blue bee is rare, and the fact that it fell under the radar for years, shows that. It’s incredible to see various species not be extinct, even if we believed them to be so.
Closing thoughts
Operation Earth aspires to save as many species as possible from potential extinction. It’s not an easy thing to achieve, but a simple something like protecting habitats can make a huge difference. We are very excited to learn that the Blue Calamintha Bee is safe and sound, which gives us hope that other animals and insects will be safe from potential extinction!
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