General News, Info and Events related to Native Bees
Tim Heard and his offsider Lachlan pictured extracting stingless bee honey and taking a small sample for Dean Haley who is collecting samples for various quality tests on behalf the Australian Native Bee Association. If you’d like to submit your honey for testing, talk to Dean before you start so…
Matthew Middleton held a native bee workshop today where he shared his many years of knowledge. Matthew limits the attendee numbers so it’s quite an intimate gathering where you are immersed in spirituality of it all with story telling, didgeridoo playing, damper and tea. Matthew showed us around his fantastically…
Goodrich box receives an update for 2020 New clear viewing window There’s a few updates for the box actually. While basically the same box design, there’s now a clear viewing window on top as pictured above. The round hole is for the honey jar which you can add later once…
There seems to be a surge in the popularity for Stingless Bees this year. Suppliers have long waiting lists and we’ve seen plenty of new people coming in to the online community chasing colonies. Here’s some simple tips for new comers… Native Stingless Bees will come in a box already.…
Alex of Little Bees Secret Garden teamed up with Bill at Tullamore Farm for a day of Native Bee education. Tullamore Farm is just past Beaudesert Qld. Since purchasing the property in 2014 Bill has done a lot of work building structures and gardens with the intent to be fully…
This is the new Observation Box from Sugarbag Bees in Brisbane. Tim Heard has been testing the design out for a while now, with the full hive pictured here being two years old and is going well. It’s currently connected up to another empty one for Budding/Eduction. Observation hives are…
Genomics of Stingless Bees – James Hereward The July meeting of the Australian Native Bee Association – Brisbane Branch was a little different as we were still dealing with Covid 19 restrictions. The presentation was broadcast live on Facebook, with around twelve members present at the meeting. James Hereward was…
The Bee Garden Competition was a great success with 46 entries submitting 125 photos. 18 businesses happily and enthusiastically donated well over $1000 worth of their products as prizes for the competition. The main objectives for the competition were to create new resources for native bees, but possibly equally important, to create…
Hive Haven I caught up with Ann and Jeff to get a quick update… Ann and Jeff have done a lot of work in the industry over the last few years to raise awareness about native bees and have quite a few demonstration hives at places like schools, retirement villages,…
The Bee Healthy Festival held at Canungra Qld was organised by Alex of Little Bees Secret Garden and Donna of Owl Whole Foods. Starting Friday with the main day on Saturday. The shop drew a crowd with food sampling from different local suppliers and there was plenty of activity in…
Square Pillar Hive
OATHs with fitted lid
Native Bee Barrel
Combination Stingless Bee Hive
Native Bee Signs
Red Mailbox Hive
Display Tower with Frames
Stingless Bee Species Takeover
Log Cabin – Hive Duplication
Honey Super Designs & Testing
Overheat & mould
Octahive colony died!
Budding Hive Instructions – How To
Split a Native Bee Hive – Video
Alex Derrick – ANBA Meeting
Native Bee Club – Francisco Garcia
Hive Haven
Stingless Bee Workshop – Tim Heard
Bee Expo 2017 – Photos
Empty Native Bee Boxes available, with Honey Supers and viewing windows. Budding Kits with everything needed to try your own Budding/Eduction. Postage available. *Empty boxes do not include bees. **Please read the FAQs before buying empty boxes. www.nativebeehives.com/boxes-for-sale/
Boxes for sale - Native Bee Hives
www.nativebeehives.com
*Boxes do not include bees *If you are new to Stingless Bees please read this first before buying empty boxes www.nativebeehives.com/faqs/ . Click to see more++ Box Makers Tip ++
+ Start out by making boxes for yourself and monitor the build quality over years. You might think your boxes are great when you've finished them but in one/two/six months they could have all warped.
+ Wood like Cypress can be popular because it looks great new and is termite resistant but really needs plenty of time to "season" or dry out. It's very unlikely you will find kiln dried Cypress. Cypress boxes should be made over months and not over days or weeks. They will continue to warp over many months. The frames will twist and the top lid and base will cup.
+ Test test test: Make some single frames, get them perfect so they sit against each other with no gaps and no rocking, then leave them alone for a month or two, then sit them against each other again and check the gaps and rocking. This will give you an indication of how stable the timber is.
+ The same applies for the coatings. Testing should be done over a year or so. You'd want a good idea of what will happen to your boxes with bees inside and exposed to the elements.
Full timber article here: www.nativebeehives.com/more-timber/
Fairy Door Hive update. Three months Budding/Eduction progress photos. The hive is extremely busy at the moment! 😁👍. See more photos and info on the website: www.nativebeehives.com/fairy-door-hive/
12 week result from my wood sample test. I'd be interested to hear from anyone that uses Paulownia and has native bee boxes that are years old. www.nativebeehives.com/wood-samples/
Wood Sample Testing - Native Bee Hives
www.nativebeehives.com
Wood Sample Test I thought i’d throw a few samples of different wood together for some weather exposure tests. Some box makers have been trying out a wood called Paulownia recently. It’s a very li...