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Australian Native Bees

Australia has close to 2000 species of native bees. These are made up of solitary bees and stingless bees. 
Solitary bees live by themselves, in burrows and tubular structures, such as bamboo and burrows in clay soils. Solitary bees can sting, though they are very placid and hard to antagonise. They don't make honey.

Stingless bees live in large colonies, with a hierarchy that includes a Queen. They make a very unique honey. Stingless bees are the bees that live in hives.
Native bee populations are dwindling due to the recent fires, years of drought and having to compete with the introduced honeybee species. The best thing you can do, to help native bees, is to plant bee loving, flowering plants. A few proven bee loving plants are listed below. Plants marked with an * flower in winter which is especially important to help our little friends, as there aren’t many flowers available during the colder months. 

Grevilleas, banksias*, native jasmine, bottle brush, melastoma affine*, citrus*, radish, blueberries, apple trees, perennial basil*, Thai basil*, lavender* and perennial nasturtium*

Stingless bees

Stingless bees vary greatly from European honey bees. They are very small, about 4mm long, and are all black.
Because they don't sting, they need other methods to protect themselves. Stingless bees enclose themselves in a protective bubble of propolis (bees wax and resin mixture), leaving only one entrance and exit. This entrance is always guarded by guard bees, who will attack and smother any intruders in resin.

Native bee rescue/removal

Native, stingless bees often make their hives in inopportune places, such as water metre pits, down pipes/guttering, fences and walls.

Trees, with hives, can fall over or which have been cut down can expose hives.

If a hive is found, The Stingless Bee Lady will removal and rescue them. All hives which are rescued are donated to schools and daycares so that the children can learn about our little friends.

A finder fee is available.

Please contact me for recommendations of experienced native, stingless bee rescuers in your area.

Northerns Rivers, Tweed Heads, Southern Gold Coast.

Eduction vs splitting

Eduction (sometimes called budding) is connecting an empty hive to a full hive, via a tube. This process is very similar to what happens in nature, when a hive wants to duplicate. It is a gentle method of duplication and results in no bee deaths. As opposed to splitting a hive, which is quite violent, has a lot of bee deaths and has a high rate of both hives failing.  

Another benefit of eduction is having a viewing panel on the empty bee box and being able to watch the new hive being built.

Native bee honey

Native bee honey is very unique and is substantially different to honey bee honey. It’s sweeter, more fragrant and has much more flavor. 

It’s low GI, so excellent for diabetics. Has potent antimicrobial and antibacterial properties and is high in antioxidants. 

Stingless bees make about 1L of honey a year, so their honey is very precious. It’s considered one of the rarest honeys in the world. 

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Native bees

Perfect for every Australian backyard