The new bee species was first identified by Favizia Freitas de Oliveira, a research scientist with the Institute of Biology at Brazil’s Federal University of Bahia and Hebert Luiz Pereira, a Bayer consultant who’s firm, HP Agroconsultoria focuses on bee production and conservation. In 2017, both began working with Henrique Fiorese, whose family owns the Nossa Senhora Aparecida Farm, where the discovery was made. Details surrounding the discovery were featured in the December 23, 2020 edition of ZooKeys Journal, an international science publication.
Through Bayer’s ForwardFarm initiative, the company collaborates with independent farmers like Fiorese in locations throughout the world to share knowledge about modern and sustainable agriculture through first-hand experiences. Pereira and Freitas de Oliveira noticed the new species, which is a solitary bee that does not live in colonies, while studying other bees that were building their nests inside insect hotels that had