Bees of Monmouthshire Recording Project Update

In an era of climate change and increasing habitat loss, it’s becoming harder for bees to find suitable nesting sites and enough of the forage they need to feed their offspring.

The Bumble Bee Conservation Trust reported the worse year on record for bumble bees in 2024, but for most of the other 250 UK bee species we can’t even ask the question. We simply don’t have enough data to know whether these species are in trouble.

Project manager Ciaran, out on fieldwork

We hear so much about the need to protect pollinators, but protecting and creating habitats, like wildflower meadows, is only half of the battle. Bees need places to nest, as well as forage. For example, brownfield sites, because of their exposed earth, varied topography and natural regeneration, can be very important for many invertebrates, including numerous bee species. Osmia spinulosa and Hoplitis claviventris are two charismatic mason bees that thrive on calcareous brownfield sites, with the female O. spinulosa pictured using empty snail shells to make her nest. However, these brownfield sites are often undervalued when it comes to biodiversity and are usually the first targets for developers.

Therefore, we need to understand where the approximately 275 UK bee species are abundant locally and which habitats are most important to them. If you don’t know the species diversity before you intervene to ‘improve’ a certain habitat, it will be impossible to accurately assess whether your work has had any impact. This is where the citizen science of biological recording is vital.

A female Osmia spinulosa (Spined mason bee)

A male Hoplitis claviventris (Welted lesser mason bee)

Survey work highlights

Since March 2024, the Bees of Monmouthshire Recording Project has conducted 114 visits to 50 different sites across Monmouthshire. Visiting different habitats including ex-industrial brownfield sites, heathland in the mountain valleys, wildflower-rich hay meadows, and sandy riverbanks, the project team has amassed over 1300 records so far and identified 135 different bee species!

The high chance of new discoveries is the really exciting part of this work for me. People often question why I’m constantly on the look-out for insects, particularly in not especially ‘wild’ places but some of the most interesting discoveries I’ve made have come from the most unexpected places!

In fact, it was next to the A-road through Monmouth, just 200m from Bees for Development’s offices, that I found the first county record of Andrena synadelpha (Broad-margined mining bee) last spring. Then a year later, the same spot produced another exciting record – this time Nomada facillis (Hawk’s-beard nomad bee). This bee was only recognised as existing in the UK in 2017 and has only around 20 known records across the whole of the British Isles.

The project team recorded a further five species for only the second time in Monmouthshire, including Melitta tricincta, which had not been recorded for 20 years and a rare nomad bee, Nomada guttulata. Three more new bees were added to the county list, including one tiny species, Lasioglossum semilucens, which is also new species for Wales! This emphasises just how much there is still to discover about our local wildlife, even in our parks and gardens.

The project team visiting a disused quarry with a local wildlife trust warden

A female Andrena synadelpha (Broad-margined mining bee)

Community outreach and volunteering

On top of the great success of the team’s fieldwork, the project is also inspiring others to take up recording and learn more about their local bee diversity. I have done a lot of community outreach since the project began, running two ID workshops, giving 11 talks to local community groups, attended by over 400 people, and leading over 100 different people on bee walks around Monmouthshire. We explored what bees are, their life cycles and habitats, and the practicalities of finding and identifying UK species.

Through this outreach, a small team of volunteer recorders have joined the project, taking on field, microscopy and recording work, and contributing over 500 records so far. Building a community of recorders is hugely important for the lasting impact of the project, as it connects people to their wildlife and creates a local source of knowledge.

Project manager Ciaran, giving the first project talk at Monmouth Shire Hall

Ciaran leads a bee walk on the banks of the River Monnow in Monmouth

Next steps

The next step is the launch of our new project website, which is designed as a resource for people in Monmouthshire to investigate the diversity of their local bee species and to get involved in the project. Visitors will be able to log records directly through the iRecord widget, find out about upcoming events and workshops and use a reference catalogue to identify bees they’ve found. The website will also serve as a place for the community of recorders to display their fantastic work.

We are keen to expand our work, by setting up new recording groups to increase our team of volunteers and look at new ways we can support them, for example, with field guides, microscopes and workshops. We are planning to work with local schools, giving students practical bee identification and recording experience. We want to offer observation bee nests to schools so pupils can gain insights into bee ecology and behaviours and have a chance to contribute to national citizen science initiatives.

The Bees of Monmouthshire Recording Project has been supported by the Sustainable Development Fund, a Welsh Government initiative in the Wye Valley National Landscape (NL).

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Ciaran doing a bee walk for Wye Valley National Landscape team