Bee Good to Bees
I’m rather fond of bees. I find them fascinating and they produce one of my favourite food stuffs - rich, golden honey. I keep native bees. The picture I’ve drawn is of an Australian Native Bee. It is a Blue Banded Bee and I often see them foraging in my garden. Australia has around 2000 native bees some of which are the only known pollinators of certain native plants. So we need to look after them. Most of our native bees, like my little friend here, live solitary lives but 11 species recognise there’s strength in numbers so they form colonies. European Honey Bees also form colonies and both types of bees are prolific pollinators but that is largely where the similarities end.
Native bee colonies are smaller than European Honey Bees and their nest and brood (eggs, larvae and pupae) structure are different. Native bees produce a lot less honey than European Honey Bees. In fact they only produce around 1kg a year so it fetches a pretty penny. Their honey is a bit runnier and can taste more acidic than the European Honey Bees. I don’t harvest the honey from my hives. It’s their food after all and I don’t want to take something from them that took so much effort to make. There is a myth that native bee are stingless. This is wrong. Native bees can sting but they hardly ever do unless really annoyed. I have been told that their stings are less painful than European Honey Bees but I’m not willing to test that theory out.
Native bee honey is also known as sugarbag honey. In Brisbane, the name of one of it’s major landmarks, Mount Cootha, is a derivation of the word ‘Kuta’. Kuta, is the name the local Aboriginal people gave to sugarbag honey. The honey was a sweet source of carbohydrates and was also valued for its medicinal purposes. In addition the resin was used as glue when making tools and weapons.
I have two native bee hives. They sit on my verandah and sometimes, especilly if I am feeling unwell or a bit anxious, I lie out there and just watch them. I see them fly out empty and return with pollen on their legs and nectar in their bellies. I find watching them therapeutic, meditative and downright relaxing. Their simple routines are ancient practices that remind me that little things in life can have a big impact in the world. Bees demonstrate the strength of selflessly working together to achieve a greater good and each and every one of them make the world a better place.