Ultra Rare "Blue Bee" Found in Florida, After Researchers Thought It Might Be Extinct

Beautiful, metallic-blue bee is one of many amazing native bee species that could be lost forever if action is not taken to preserve their habitat. Like Hamlet, the Calamintha Bee might have wondered whether or not it will survive or die from extinction. It's a fact these rare bees have to endure the metaphorical "slings and arrows of outrageous fortune" from the insidious effects of habitat loss and lethal pesticides.

Kimmel spotted the bee, known for its unique way of collecting pollen, when he and a volunteer were installing a bee condo in the Lake Wales Ridge near some Ashe's calamint -- another threatened species that blue calaminthas depend on for food. "We observed a shiny little blue bee grabbing the flower and rubbing its head on the top portion of the flower two or three times before moving on to another flower," Kimmel told CNN. "In reading about this unique behavior we were pretty shocked to see it." After catching the bee in March, the researcher used macrophotography and checked in with lead authors who studied the species to confirm the insect was a blue calamintha.