Tag: Native Bees

Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz …

Published on by FJB2 Comments

It’s winter, and it’s around now that I start to stress a little …

The nights are cold, we’ve had long periods of rain, and the daytime temperature often doesn’t reach 18 degrees.  And 18°C is the magic number when it comes to my native bees (Tetragonula carbonaria).  Below 18°C they stay in the hive and won’t come out to forage, which means they use their stores of nectar and pollen to stay alive.

Is it 18 degrees yet Mum?

Native bees don’t hibernate so the inside temperature of the hive is also really important. Extended periods of cold can kill a hive. I have a mental picture of them all huddled together trying to keep warm, sipping honey and telling tall (or small?) stories to while away the hours.

With all this in mind, I was understandably nervous about splitting my hive, but finally last spring, with the help of a friendly local native bee enthusiast, I felt brave enough to take the risk.  So very early one Sunday morning, we cracked it open and were rewarded with the sight of a healthy, honey and pollen filled hive.

A healthy advancing front
Sugar bags, pollen and honey

We put a new top on the base of the old hive and vice versa and sealed the joins with tape to keep out predators until the bees could seal it themselves.  The new hive is now sitting under the Pecan tree where it will get some winter sun.

New hive under the Pecan tree

Still feeling a bit cowardly, I decided to take the minimum amount of honey, and give the bees the best chance to rebuild the hive and to set aside stores for winter.

Native bee honey is quite runny, and it has a strong complex flavour. Drizzled over vanilla bean ice-cream, I can tell you that it was absolutely delicious!

 

The good news is, that so far after each spell of cold rainy weather, as soon as the daytime temperature reaches 18°C – out they come .  Fingers crossed for the rest of winter.

PS: If you are looking to keep native bees in Australia,
this is the bible , by entomologist Dr. Tim Heard.
Or even better, if you live in NSW or QLD you might be able to get to one of his fascinating seminars or workshops.

This is how I got hooked!

Tim Heard – Sugarbag Bee Events

Spring disappointment …

Published on by FJB4 Comments

It’s been a disappointing spring. The first two months being colder than usual, and November so far being hot and windy. Coupled with almost no rain, the result has been fewer than usual spring blooms.  Native bees do not appreciate this sort of weather.

After two months of impatient waiting, I finally allowed myself to check the honey super  on my native beehive – to discover no honey and a partially blocked hole. My local bee advisor suggests that they are not ready to fill the honey pot yet and that I need to wait impatiently for another couple of months.

Hoping the holes mean that they will fill the pot later?
Hoping the holes mean that they will fill the pot later?
In the meantime, just so there’s no doubt that I’m running a bee friendly garden, I’ve named my garden “maam dungaarrgundi” which means “place of bees” in the local indigenous Gumbaynggirr language. Native bees are welcome, stingless or otherwise.

Maam dungaarrgundi - place of bees in Gumbaynggirr
Maam dungaarrgundi – “place of bees” in Gumbaynggirr
A lack of flowers doesn’t stop the native bees from keeping up with the housekeeping – the Poo Patrol regularly brings out rubbish in the form of little pellets.  So I decided to do some housekeeping of my own. Thinking that the Bee Motel that I created several years ago had been all but abandoned, I moved it to a shadier spot and then decided to clean out the nest holes. Ooops – I very nearly killed a pretty Homalictus bee which emerged spluttering and covered in dust.  Thankfully, the rest of the holes only contained little dead bodies.

Entombed insects>
Dead bee?
Dust covered Homalictus
Poo Patrol – bringing out the rubbish

The European bees are busy in the pecan catkins, and hover flies are still around, but I’m not holding out much hope for a good native bee season unless we get some meaningful rain.  All very disappointing.

dscn0470-bee-in-pecan
European bee in pecan catkins

 

dscn0330-hover-fly
Hover fly on salvia

Lazybees …

Published on by FJB2 Comments

Today is the first day of spring and I’ve put my native bees on notice.

They’ve had a lazy winter.  Whilst their European relatives toiled daily, returning to their hives (wherever they are?) with loads of pollen, my bees snoozed, only venturing forth on warm days to clean out the poo and make a few half-hearted forays into the garden.

No more excuses.  The weather is warmer, I’ve seen them out and about, and there are plenty of flowers in the garden … so now it’s time for them to provide me with some honey.

You might recall that twelve months ago, being a bit impatient, I attempted to fool my bees into giving me some honey by removing the top of the hive and placing a small container over the access hole .  My bees promptly sealed it up and went back to the business of collecting pollen.

This time I’ve gone professional and ordered a proper Honey Super kit from Sydney Native Stingless Bees.  The helpful Melissa sent me several honey pots, a honey super and two straps to secure the hive.

Adding the honey pot
Bees exploring the honey pot
Super and straps in place
Roof in place
Roof back in place – messy little devils aren’t they!

I’ll have to wait 6-8 weeks before peeking, but as my Bee Beds are about to burst into flower, I have high hopes that by the beginning of November I’ll have a little native bee honey to drizzle on my morning yoghurt.

Bee Beds ready to flower
Bee Beds ready to flower

Bee Garden update …

Published on by FJB2 Comments

Well, the Bee Garden has been a huge success!  Much more so than my ultimately unsatisfactory attempts to grow veggies in the same beds.
Bee BedsAnd it’s not just bees that have been attracted to the garden, all sorts of beneficial insects like hover flies, butterflies, wasps, ants and many more previously unobserved bugs have arrived.  Many of which have eluded my desperate attempts to photograph them.

I’ve gained a new respect for nasturtiums and their bee attracting powers, although I now know why it’s often considered a weed, and I’m about to replant with a less rampant variety.
Nasturtium 4

Salvia, perennial basil, sweet basil, cosmos, mint and even parsley gone to seed have all performed well, but yarrow was a bit of a disappointment.  The flowers are quite attractive, but not a single insect to be seen.  I wonder if some yarrow varieties don’t attract bees?

My newly replanted beds include the best performers, plus a few experiments like cat’s whiskers, borage, bergamot and coleus which the Blue Banded bees seem particularly attracted to. Crossing my fingers and hoping for a repeat performance …