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Bee Aware Kids tees now available!
1/17/2017
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Bee Aware Kids t-shirts now available! Suitable for all hip Bee Aware kids. Bee quick, we have a limited number of the new kids shirts with the new design on them available on Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/au/shop/BeesTeesBrisbane There is only a small number at the moment, but if they are popular we will make some more asap.
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Bee Aware Brisbane T-Shirts now available!!!
12/8/2016
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I’m very happy to announce that after many requests for Bee Aware Brisbane t-shirts over the years, I have finally made some up and am selling them through my Etsy online store https://www.etsy.com/au/shop/BeesTeesBrisbane Just in time for Christmas! At this stage it is just a limited number, until I get an idea of the likely demand. If we sell out, we’ll get some more up asap. We will be shipping all online orders via AusPost within 1–3 days of order. Please be very careful with sizes as we have made each size a different item in the store (have a look at the size chart images to get an idea of which size is suitable for you). Kids shirts on their way in the next few days. We hope you enjoy!
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New AgGuide for Australian Native Bees
11/20/2016
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The long awaited publication from the NSW Department of Primary Industries has arrived. The new book on Australian Native Bees joins the AgGuide series, as a practical handbook for gardeners and farmers. The book has a great collection of chapters, authored by a great range of Australia’s bee and pollination experts. It’s a beautiful book, with brilliant full page colour photos of native bees, and has informative chapters on landscapes for native bees, native bees as crop pollinators, and making artificial nesting habitat for solitary and semi-social bees (Myself and Tim Heard authored this chapter), just to name a few. You can order the book at http://www.tocal.nsw.edu.au/publications/list/animals/australian-native-bees And it will soon be available as an Ebook too, complete with video elements. Congratulations to Dani Lloyd-Prichard, the driving force behind the book, and all of the other authors.
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New Native Bees of Queensland poster out now
8/16/2016
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Artist Gina Cranson has just released this beautiful collection of 24 portraits of Queensland bee species to follow up on her release last year of a similar poster for NSW. Go here to check out the QLD poster and purchase it:https://www.etsy.com/au/listing/453691938/native-bees-of-queensland-poster?ref=shop_home_active_1#ozpollinatorsThis poster will make a fantastic addition to any Queensland classroom I recon! Congratulations on another sensational poster Gina!
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A brief history of honey bee incursions into Australia
7/9/2016
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In the last nine years three different Asian honey bee species have arrived in Australia at various times: Apis dorsata (giant Asian honey bee), Apis cerana (Asiatic honey bee), and Apis florea (dwarf honey bee). All are very cool bees in their native range (particularly cute little Apis florea), but we don’t want them here in Australia because of potential threats to native biodiversity and agriculture. One fear is that they will transfer Varroa mites to our domestic Apis mellifera (European honey bee) populations, which have been resident in Australia for almost 200 years. Most foreign Apis incursions have been Apis cerana, and this species is the original host of Varroa mites. There are other mite species that persist with Apis dorsata, which can also negatively affect Apis mellifera. Varroa mites, and the diseases they can carry, are a major threat to European honey bees around the world.Since 2007 Australia has had a resident population of Apis cerana in the greater Cairns region. These bees are the descendants of a single colony that did not carry any Varroa mites (the first colony was actually found in a local Cairns boat in dry dock, and had likely been there for over a year, probably having come from an international ship that stopped in port). Over 660 descendant nests have since been found and destroyed. These bees are now here to stay. The most recent detection of a separate Apis cerana incursion was last week, in Townsville port. The colony that was found (~5000 bees) is believed to have been there, undetected, for up to two years. It was found with Varroa mites (two individuals). Time will tell if this was a lucky, isolated find, or if they have reproduced and spread already (which is possibly more likely)? What is clear is that the arrival of foreign Apis colonies to Australian ports happens fairly frequently, and our quarantine detection measures have so far averted multiple potential invasions.(Note: Varroa mites will not directly affect any native Australian bee species, although there is potential that the diseases they transmit among honey bee colonies may spread to native bees too)
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Senate Committee on the use of bumble bees in Tasmania
2/19/2016
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A Senate Committee has been established to assess ‘the risks and opportunities associated with the use of the bumblebee population in Tasmania for commercial pollination purposes’. Submissions to the enquiry are being accepted until the 3rd of March. This is a complex issue, and one that I hope the committee will consider with appropriate depth. Feral bumble bees have been established in Tasmania now for 25 years. It is understandable that some farmers in Tasmania would like to take advantage of these introduced bees in the pollination of their crops. However, one of the threats associated with such a move being implemented is that should it become legal for introduced bumble bees to be actively managed in Tasmania, to the advantage of crop pollination, then it may pave the way for an eventual introduction of these bees to mainland Australia for the same purposes. An introduction of bumble bees to mainland Australia will likely have disastrous consequences for biodiversity (many of which have already been described in Tasmania after bumble bee arrival), and there is growing evidence from overseas that introduced bumble bee populations can transmit pests and diseases to both wild native bee populations, and to managed European honey bee populations. If the Senate ends up recommending that Tasmanian farmers be able to utilise introduced bumble bees, then I hope that such a decision only goes ahead with strong legislation against their future importation into mainland Australia. It is reasonable to fear though, that even with strong legal protections against future mainland importation, the establishment of bumble bee management in Tasmania would rapidly increase the chances of their illegal introduction to the mainland. As such, I feel there is no choice but to opposed the legalised active management of these bees in Tasmania, and instead call for the use only of wild feral populations of these bees that already exist around crops. You can find the call for comment on the committee here: http://www.aph.gov.au/…/Environment_and_Communic…/Bumblebees*And a little more info here: http://www.aph.gov.au/…/Envir…/Bumblebees/Terms_of_Reference *And some informative background on the subject here:http://www.aussiebee.com.au/bumblebees-8may06.html
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New: The Native Bee Book
1/30/2016
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It’s finally here! Dr Tim Heard’s long-awaited stingless beekeeping epic, “The Australian Native Bee Book: Keeping Stingless Bee Hives for Pets, Pollination and Sugarbag Honey”. It really is epic! A comprehensive 246 page book with over 500 sensational images – including 30 of my own 🙂 – coalescing Tim’s 25+ years of stingless bee keeping experience and research. The book covers topics from general bee diversity, to detailed stingless bee keeping ins and outs, to crop pollination with stingless bees and more. You can buy it direct from Tim online at www.NativeBeeBook.com.au You can also buy it here from Bee Aware Brisbane for $35 if you are local and can organise to pick it up from Annerley. If you would like to purchase from Bee Aware Brisbane please send us a private message through our Facebook page, or send as message by our contact page here.
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Non-bee pollinators super important in crop pollination
12/3/2015
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It’s not just bees that are important crop pollinators! The results of an international research project were published this week, showing just how important the non-bee pollinators are. The authors observed the insects visiting a range of crops, and determined that, on average, 39% of the pollinators that visited flowers were non-bees (flies, wasps, beetles, butterflies etc). This is yet more evidence showing why we need to consider more than just honey bees in our crop pollination systems. When you consider that a maximum of about a third of the food we eat is the result of insect pollination (and it is quite likely closer to a tenth of the food we eat, after you consider that some of the insect-pollinated crops can also produce yields, although lower, without insect pollinators at all), then after non-bee pollinators and native bees, honey bees are probably generally contributing to a much smaller overall component of the food supply than they are given credit for. Sorry honies, but it more and more seems you’re not as big as your reputation… (But! As a single species, honey bees, Apis mellifera, are still the most common and widespread of insect pollinators in crops, and so are indeed a very important part of the mix!). The researchers were a large, international team, lead by Romina Rader based at UNE in NSW, and included Brisbane’s very own Margie Mayfield, from UQ. You can find a link to the full scientific article here, for free: http://www.pnas.org/content/…/2015/11/24/1517092112.abstract Photo: A Syrphid fly visiting coriander flowers, here in Brisbane.
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Nest Blocks For Solitary Bees
8/18/2015
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In preparation for spring, you can make nest sites for native cavity nesting solitary bees for your garden. Get a block of timber (that has not been treated with any chemicals!) and drill some holes in it. Holes of 6mm and 8mm diameter seem to be good, and will attract resin bees and leafcutter bees. But why not experiment too? Drill some other random sizes and see what you get? Drill as deep as you can, up to a depth of about 13–15cm for the larger diametres. The holes should be angled slightly up, so the bee goes up a very slight incline as it crawls in. After drilling the holes, it can also help to flame the hole entrances slightly. One way of doing this is to briefly pass the timber over a burning gas cooking ring. I suggest just having a series of small nest blocks scattered around, rather than a big block or a ‘bee wall’, as large aggregations can increase the incidence of pests and disease. Put your nest block outside in a place where it is protected from rain and harsh summer sun. Now wait patiently, and when it starts to warm up, females of various solitary bee species might move in. If you miss seeing the bees coming and going, you will know when someone has nested in a hole because the end will be sealed up. Remember that solitary bees can sting, but usually only if handled. In nature these bee species often nest in the holes left by wood boring beetles.
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Night Bees
8/17/2015
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Heard of the night parrot? I bet you have. What about night bees?? Yes, there are nocturnal and crepuscular (fly at dawn and dusk) bees!! And yes, they collect pollen and nectar and do the things that day-flying (diurnal) bees do. But in the dark! All bees have three little spherical structures on their heads called ocelli, which are like little extra eyes that help them see and orientate. Compared with day bees though, night bees have much larger ocelli, relative to their head size, which is one of the traits that enable them to fly in low light. In the photos below are one nocturnal bee (Megalopta centralis) and one crepuscular bee (Rhinetula dentrictus) from Panama. These I encountered while light trapping in rainforests there. They were attracted to light just like moths. Here in Australia we have one bee species, Reepenia bituberculata (QLD), which is believed to be a night flyer? It has enlarged ocelli, but no one has actually observed it flying at night. Elusive? The elusive night bee of Queensland…?!!
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