Thought to have been wiped out, native honeybees are rediscovered in the UK

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Thousands of rare forest honeybees that appear to be the last wild descendants of Britain’s native honeybee population have been discovered in the ancient woodlands of Blenheim Palace.

The newly discovered subspecies, or ecotype, of honeybee is smaller, furrier and darker than the honeybees found in managed beehives, and is believed to be related to the indigenous wild honeybees that foraged the English countryside for centuries. Until now, it was presumed all these bees had been completely wiped out by disease and competition from imported species.

Filipe Salbany, a bee conservationist who found 50 colonies of the rare honeybees in Blenheim’s 400-acre estate, said: “These bees are quite unique in that they live in nests in very small cavities, as bees have for millions of years, and they have the ability to live with disease.”

Dr Rob Stoneman, a director at the Wildlife Trust, said the discovery of the wild bees was “extraordinary” and demonstrated the value of the UK’s ancient woodlands. “These kinds of stories give us hope and motivation to create a wilder future.”

Source - https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/nov/07/no-one-knew-they-existed-wild-heirs-of-lost-british-honeybee-found-at-blenheim?

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We need to protect them!

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Interestingly, some are looking into the idea of hybridising them with regular bees so they can pass their protection to diseases (not sure about the pros and cons of this): https://www.reddit.com/r/UpliftingNews/comments/qox8ks/no_one_knew_they_existed_wild_heirs_of_los Also according to some sources, another place where native bees do exist in the UK is Colonsay (in Scotland).