The Cheshire Bee Group was formed in early 2019 by Leanna Dixon and Chloe Aldridge.
The aims of the group are to;
- Increase the number of Cheshire bee records (including on under recorded sites)
- Enable shared learning to develop bee identification skills
- Increase interest in bee recording
The group undertakes field trips to different locations throughout the season (April to September).
Contact: cheshirebeegroup@gmail.com
Sign up to the mailing list here
2023 Sites Visited
- 17th May – Grosvenor Park and Chester Meadows,
- 16th June – Leasowe Dunes, Wirral
- 2nd July – Anderton Nature Park, Northwich
- 20th July – World Museum, Liverpool
- 8th August – Tegg’s Nose
2022 Sites Visited
- 21st May – Chester Meadows
- 10th July – Ness Gardens
- 13th August – New Ferry Butterfly Park
- 20th August – Heswall Shore – Search for Sea Aster Bee
An overview of 2019
Ness Botanic Gardens Field Visit – April 2019
Sites visited
- Chester Meadows
- Norton Priory, Runcorn
- Risley Moss, Warrington
- Red Rocks, Wirral
- Countess of Chester Country Park
- Ness Botanic Gardens, Wirral
- Cleaver Heath Nature Reserve, Heswall
- Chester Zoo
Key finds (species with less than 10 records in Cheshire pre 2019).
Sphecodes ferruginatus
| Species | Location |
| Sphecodes ferruginatus | Risley Moss |
| Megachile versicolor | Cleaver Heath |
| Andrena nitida | Chester Meadows |
| Andrena denticulata | Chester Zoo & Red Rocks |
| Nomada leucophthalma | Cleaver Heath |
| Coelioxys elongata | Cleaver Heath |
The Blood bee Sphecodes ferruginatus was a new record for Cheshire. A blog post about its identification using DNA barcoding can be found here.
