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As long as a thumb and with a six-centimetre wingspan, you’d think it would be hard to miss Wallace’s giant bee. Alfred Wallace – a biologist who, at the same time as Charles Darwin, also came up with the theory of evolution through natural selection – wrote about it way back in 1858. But since then, this gigantic buzzer has been almost impossible to find. One expedition spotted them in 1981, but there have been no more recorded sightings of the largest bee in the world. That is, until now.

Wallace’s giant bee (Megachile pluto) holds a fascination for many insect enthusiasts. In fact, two different groups of scientists and conservationists were planning their own searches. When they found out about each other, they decided to join forces and make one international expedition.

The giant bees have only ever been spotted on a few remote islands in Indonesia. They make their nests up in the trees, inside active termite nests.

So to spot one of the bees, you need to go to the right group of islands in Indonesia, find a termite nest in a tree, and then climb up to take a close look. It might take 20 minutes of looking at a nest to be sure that no-one’s home.

The team spent five days searching and found all kinds of wonderful insects, but not the bees they were looking for. They were tired, sick, and thinking of home when they finally noticed a termite mound with a very round hole, just the right size for a gigantic bee. The inside of the nest looked wet and sticky, and something was moving inside. One of the researchers grabbed a head torch and confirmed what they had all hoped. They had rediscovered the world’s largest bee.

There’s plenty more to learn about Wallace’s giant bee. The team are already talking to local Indonesian experts to look for bees on other islands. It’s the first step in protecting these beautiful, buzzing titans.

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