​Cyprus, an island in the eastern part of the Mediterranean is a biodiversity hotspot. While the biodiversity of wild bees on the island was documented extensively from 1916-1957 by the renowned bee taxonomist G. Mavromoustakis, no analyses were performed on the spatiotemporal distribution of bees. Andri Varnava, a PhD candidate in our Group organized the Mavromoustakis data in an online database with over 1000 entries corresponding to 237 species. We show that the activity of wild bees peaks in spring and summer, with some species active throughout the year. Bees have been reported from the coasts of the island up to highest altitudes on the Troodos and Pentadactylos mountain ranges. Many of the species reported on the island are important pollinators of agricultural crops in other parts of the world, but few data exist for Cyprus. Ongoing sampling that begun in 2015 identified more than 11 morphospecies of wild bees from carob flowers, and 41 morphospecies from vineyard margins, two crops considered as high nature value farmland for the island. Important threats to wild bee diversity include the expansion of monocultures, the heavy use of pesticides in agricultural fields and the loss of suitable habitat. Conservation of wild bee populations requires increasing flowering plant diversity in agricultural fields to supply alternative food sources, provision of nesting sites and a reduction in the use of toxic pesticides. Current work focuses on documenting the effects of land use change and climate on wild bee populations. We are excited to be part of SUPER-B.

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