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The rare northern mining bee (Colletes floralis) is a solitary bee with a boreo-alpine distribution, restricted in the British Isles to coastal sand dunes in North-west Scotland and Northern Ireland. The IUCN regional red list of Irish bees (2006) lists the species as vulnerable across the island (classification VU A3c). The UK is thought to hold up to 50% of the world population.

The species is the subject of a UK Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) and a Northern Ireland Species Action Plan (SAP). It has been listed on the NI priority species list (March 2004).

A 2003 survey of NI sites by the RSPB revealed four locations at which the species exists, two of which were small and considered vulnerable. Queen's University Belfast have resurveyed one site, the Umbra during summer 2008 and have carried out a detailed population genetic analysis of the species across its Irish and British range, including a preliminary analysis of the Umbra population.

The results demonstrate (i) considerable variation in the food resources utilised by the species across its British and Irish range (pollen analysis reveals umbelifers to be important), (ii) some habitat features (e.g. open sand) correlate loosely with the presence of the species, and (iii) considerable population genetic viscosity (i.e. extremely limited gene flow), with the NI (Umbra) population appearing to be an outlier to the rest of the British and Irish populations.

The main aims of this project are to:

1. Ascertain the distribution and abundance of C. floralis in NI;
2. Determine the food resource requirements of the species throughout NI;
3. Quantify the habitat features associated with C. floralis;
4. Evaluate levels of genetic diversity in NI populations and infer gene flow with neighbouring populations.

This project is funded by the NIEA under the Natural Heritage Research Partnership (NHRP).