
Stingless Bee Colony Humidity Monitoring – Updated
The Goals: 1. Monitor humidity levels inside multiple stingless bee colonies over time. 2. See if outside weather changes affect colony humidity. 3. Gain an understanding of what the hell I’m doing. 4. Refine testing methods As with other tests done on this site, this process may take years to get good results. The sensor probes may need to be replaced or cleaned occasionally. Other variables with humidity levels might be temperature, amount of empty space inside the box, strength of colony, weather etc. Sensor installs and charts Humidity sensors/probes have been installed in to four boxes at the start of 2023. All with Tetragonula carbonaria colonies. Charts below may show different colonies at different times. At the moment the

Temperature Monitoring – Brood and Honey Pots
We’ll follow the progress of this native bee box with two probes, showing the differences in temperatures between ambient, edge and brood. This is a two month old split of Tc in a standard 25mm box. The photos are from October 5, 2022. It’s important to know exactly where your
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Hivecraft Renovations 2023
An update for the Hivecraft garage space… The main production still takes place in the rusty dusty shed out the back, while the recently available garage space will be used

Toohey Forest Walk
An awesome day with Dean Haley at Toohey Forest, Brisbane. Dean has been a regular visitor to the local forest over years and today he generously shared his knowledge, showing

BonnyBeeHaven – Jim Marchment
When you see Jim’s yard you can tell he’s in to a bit of everything, vegies, chickens, european honey bees, solitary bee hotels, stingless bees and the compulsory workshed for

BeeWild – Diane Norris
Diane driving her Land Rover “Lenny” which she is quite proud of, and thus provided me with endless jokes about rattly tractor engines, squeaky brakes and oil leaks, but I

Lorne NSW Workshop – Photos
Another great workshop presented by Tim Heard – Sugarbag Bees at Lorne NSW, organised by The Mid North Coast branch of the ANBA. Around 35 people attended.

Workshop with Sarah – Bee Yourself
A great afternoon at a Bee Yourself native bee workshop in Brisbane. A nice intimate crowd of twenty, we had plenty of laughs and it was great to meet everyone.
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Research Before Buying Bee Hotels
Bee Hotels are great for providing extra habitat for certain species of native bees, but,

Syrphid Fly – Wasp Mimic
Syrphid Fly – Wasp Mimic Hoverfly – Ceriana ornata. These look like wasps but you

Stingless Bee Feeders
It’s very unlikely you’ll need to feed your bees except in extreme conditions! Most people

Native Stingless Bees – Tetragonula carbonaria
Updated: October 2021 We have 11 described species of Stingless Bees in Australia and more

Popular Stingless Bee FAQs
I’ve made or bought an empty box, where can I get bees from? Native Stingless

Are Male Stingless Bees Evicted?
What are your observations? If you have any information please let me know… The theory

The Australian Native Bee Book
On Special $30 at Hivecraft.com.au
Building & Tests
Hive Designs – Photo Gallery
All original concepts and designs by Steve – unique to nativebeehives.com Designs – All designs on
Coatings Test 2022
I’ve added a couple of new products to the list. Doug Irvine uses the Intergrain
What kind of box should i get?
There’s so many different designs of native bee boxes out there? When starting out you
Camphor Laurel Native Bee Box
Can I make a native bee box from Camphor laurel? That questions comes up every
Stingless Bee Colony Humidity Monitoring – Updated
The Goals: 1. Monitor humidity levels inside multiple stingless bee colonies over time. 2. See
Accoya Wood
Alex of Spicers Hollow Native Bees dropped in some Accoya offcuts. I plan to make
Moisture Content & Wood Hives
This article is about moisture content and wood only, not humidity conditions for bee colonies.
Varnish & Oil Coatings 2016
Just out of interest I’m testing some of the finishes I have collected for various
Paulownia Boxes
A few native bee keepers are using this at the moment, I’ve heard some good
Temperature Monitoring – Winter
*I’ll redo this article this year 2023 with some better information Lets make another “Can