Colombia just counted its bees — 738 species, 246 of them brand new to science

Colombia is the most bee-diverse country on Earth — and now it finally has the list to prove it. Researchers led by Penn State have published the country's first annotated bee checklist, drawing on 18 Colombian insect collections: 738 species, 246 recorded in Colombia for the first time, and about one in five found nowhere else. The open checklist, 'Proyecto Abejas de Colombia,' gives farmers and conservationists the names of the tiny workers pollinating the country's crops.