Researchers in Florida have rediscovered an extremely rare metallic blue bee that had not been spotted for a very long time.

It has been so long that many researchers believe they did not even exist in the state anymore.

Chase Kimmel, a researcher with the Florida Museum of Natural Museum, found a blue calamintha bee on March 9, 2020.

It was the first time a blue bee had been spotted since the year 2016.

Kimmel released a statement about the spotting, where he said:

We observed a shiny little blue bee grabbing (an Ashe’s calamint flower) and rubbing its head on the top portion of the flower 2-3 times. We were pretty shocked to see it.

After the blue bee was seen, more rare blue bees have been spotted in Florida.

But efforts to conduct a research about the very rare bees could not be done because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The blue Calamintha bee, which is also known as the Osmia Calaminthae, has unusual facial hairs that are used to collect pollen.

The blue bee is very rare.

Talking about how unique the bee is, Kimmel said:

It collects pollen on its face, relies on a threatened flowering plant and is found primarily in a habitat in central Florida: Lake Wales Ridge.

The best part about this is that Florida has a history of the bees.

According to a press release:

When much of the state was underwater, higher elevation sand dune areas along the Central Florida ridge behaved almost like islands, producing isolated habitats.

The region is a threatened ecosystem that is quickly disappearing.

Kimmel says he has scouted a number of sites for the bee, which the museum claims are individual nests and are note hives.

Researchers said that the bees have been spotted in 10 different properties.