Any doubt that the Illawarra was full of native bee enthusiasts was put to rest after October 12’s sold-out stingless bee workshop with entomologist Dr Tim Heard and the successful launch of the Illawarra Branch of the Native Bee Association.
More than 50 people attended the event in Thirroul and it was all thanks to the hard work of local stingless beekeeper Christie Peters, who said: “It was a booked-out event. It was like a rock concert. People were contacting me at all hours of the night saying, 'Can I get a ticket?'”
There are 2000 species of native bees in Australia. “If you compare that to birds, there’s only 800 [bird] species in Australia,” Dr Heard told us during Saturday’s workshop.
The former CSIRO research scientist has written the book, literally, on stingless bees. The Australian Native Bee Book takes the reader through the ins and outs of keeping stingless bees, from their anatomy and life cycle to the hierarchy of the hive, and Tim touched on these topics during the morning.
Christie, who added a hive of stingless bees to her menagerie just over a year ago, had spent almost as long going back and forth with Tim, convincing him to travel down from his home in Queensland, where he keeps over 500 hives and runs Sugarbag Bees.
The Sugarbag Bee (Tetragonula carbonaria), as cute as the name sounds delicious, is a sub-tropical species that occurs naturally from North Queensland down to around Bega. While they are a relatively easy species to keep, Tim said of having a hive in the Illawarra region, “You are getting close to the margins and everything works a little slower here.”
That means that while small amounts of honey are created in a stingless bee hive, it may not be advisable to take it for your toast, as the bees will likely need most of it. It also meant that to prevent stress on the bees, the planned demonstration of splitting Christie’s hive had to be postponed as the day was overcast and chilly.
A motion was passed to create the Illawarra’s own branch of the Australian Native Bee Association (ANBA) and an executive voted in, creating a space where locals can learn from each other, attend workshops and create a bit of a, ahem, buzz.
“I found that when I did get my hive, there wasn’t a lot of people in the area I could contact and I thought that if we formed a group down here people that are having struggling hives or have lost a hive, we could band together and help each other so that our hives do survive,” Christie said.
“I’d like to see more hives get out to schools and into parks and just have a lot more awareness down here about our beautiful native stingless bees.”
If you'd like to join, contact Christie Peters on 0412 497 312 or head to the ANBA website.
Read more: Get the buzz