Species Focus - Bee Orchid (Ophrys apifera)

We’ve not featured many plants in our Species Foci so we thought it would be a good idea to rectify this by highlighting one of our most beautiful species. The Bee Orchid is largely confined to lowland calcareous areas in North Wales. Even unassuming waste ground and roadsides can hold small colonies of this orchid. Despite its colourful flower, this attractive orchid can be surprisingly difficult to spot amongst tall grass.

There are large areas of North Wales without Bee Orchid records, so it's well worth looking out for them in suitable areas. Limestone chippings are widely used in construction and have the potential to create suitable calcareous habitat in areas where the underlying geology wouldn’t naturally support Bee Orchids. A great example of this is at the RSPB Conwy reserve.

Please submit your records to the Cofnod ORS or the LERC Wales App.