Keeping Australian Native Stingless Bees

Do you have a hive of Aussie Native Stingless Bees that you bought from Ecobotanica?

Perhaps you are thinking of keeping your own hive for pollination and honey? They are happy little things that take up very little room and work tirelessly in your garden pollinating cucumbers, fruit trees and lots more. You'll never have to hand pollinate your zucchini or pumpkins again...

While there are a number of stingless species, yours are Trigona carbonaria, a social bee, that live in a hive with a queen.

Stingless bees are effective pollinators in the garden and orchard. Their long tongues allow them to access pollen from tubular flowers as well as the flatter disc shaped flower heads. However, being tiny bees, they do not forage for pollen and nectar far from the hive, with a range of 100-500 metres at maximum. Most of their forage will come from gardens, parks or bushland close by. These industrious little bees are known as effective pollinators for macadamias, mangoes, avocadoes and melons. Our hive is near the vegie garden, as they can happily buzz about the vegies doing what they do best. Strawberries, citrus, avocadoes, chokos and coconuts are also pollinated. I have also noticed hundreds of them, together with European bees and other nectivorous insects on the Jaboticaba tree when it is in flower. The hum of busy bodies is curiously very soothing!

Stingless bees will seek out native trees and shrubs for food, but are just as happy with a wide range of forage plants that include exotics. Although native plants are a great source of forage for these little bees, a cottage garden with its floral display year round is great start for nectar and pollen as are herb and vegie gardens.

 CARING FOR YOUR BEES

Position

Your beehive will get very hot in summer and cold in winter. Ideally, position your hive in the shade of a tree or under a verandah. Here you aim for early morning sun or dappled sun without strong sunlight.

If your bees are under a tree you may also put a large piece of timber over the top of the hive to give an additional shady ‘verandah’. Some folks sit a broccoli box over the top of the hive to give it some heat protection. I prefer to avoid the broccoli box, providing shade and allowing air circulation

Hot and dry weather drinks

In summer, your bees will need to drink. A dish of water is no good as they will drown in it. Instead, provide them with a wet hessian bag under a nearby tree. They suck the water from the bag. You’ll also find other beneficial insects will stop by for a drink here too.

Trees to avoid

Native bees collect and use the resin from trees to create waxes. However, beware the Cadagi, Corymbia torelliana. Dr Anne Dollin from the ANBRC says that the bees love to collect and store the resin, but it melts in hot weather, suffocating the hive. So, keep them away or cut these trees down if they are in your garden.

Collecting the honey

You will have either a single box hive or a split hive with a collection box.

The hives may be raided for honey once or twice a year, usually in late spring and summer. Raiding the hove for honey will mean exposing the whole hive, brood and honey pots to the open air. Try to do this as quickly as possible to minimise the risk of predators including microscopic mites entering the hive.

 Single layer hives.

Step 1 You will see on one lower edge of your hive, a hole with a bolt in it. This is designed to release from your hive. Loosen but do not remove the bolt at this stage.

Step 2 Remove the aluminium lid then the timber lid. They may be stick down by the bees for protection.

Step 3There will be a glass lid underneath. This will probably be completely blackened by the bee activity in the hive. Prize off the glass lid with a woodworkers chisel or hive tool.

The bees will fly out and crawl into your eyes, ears and nose. Use a bee keepers veil if this annoys you. They will not sting.

 You will see two types of cells in the hive. The brood with bee larvae and eggs is capped off and has small regular cells in a circular pattern. The honey storage areas are large cells called honey pots.

Step 4  With a fine knitting needle or skewer, prick the honey pots around the edges of the hive to release to honey.

Step 5 Replace the lids then open the bolt. Angle the hive, drain the honey out of the hole into a cup and reseal the bolt immediately. 

 A full hive like that pictured can be split into two hives. This is best done by a person who can identify the brood and who supplies another box. Call me if you’d like me to perform this service for you. It will not need to be done for 12 months or so.

 Honey collection hives

To raid the double layered hives with a collection layer on top will require that you undertake steps 1-3 above.

Step 4  With the hive tool or chisel, prize apart the two layers. You’ll see a timber separator between both layers. The bottom layer has the brood and the top has mainly honey pots. Cover the bottom layer with the timber or glass lid while you clean out the honey collection layer.

Step 5   Using a spatula or flat blade knife, and a large bowl ready, run the blade around the inner edge of the top layer, releasing the honey pots and wax into the bowl. Open the hive again and remove the glass lid. Replace it with the honey collection layer once again. And reassemble the hive.

 The honey

To separate the honey form the wax and bees which inevitably get stuck in it, I sit the honey pots and wax in a metal strainer. Squash it a bit. It’s runny, so the honey leaks through into the bowl below. Keep the honey in the fridge. The wax can be used for the end of didgeridoos and may even be left outside for the bees to reuse.

 Pollen deposits

Bees will collect large amounts of pollen for future use when it is abundant. This appears as honey pots full of powdery yellow substance. I don’t eat this but leave it out for the bees to collect.

 Reading and Websites about Native bees and stingless bees

Dollin Anne, Michael Batley, Martyn Robinson and Brian Faulkner,  ‘Native Bees of the Sydney Region: a Field Guide’. A valuable reference for Queenslanders wishing to find out more about native bees. In this book they cover identification of native bees, including the stingless bee as well as food plants, and creating homes and habitat for native bees. It is available to order from the Australian Native Bee Research website.

The Australian Native Bee Research Centre in North Richmond NSW is a hive of information regarding native bees of all species. www.zeta.org.au