Category: News

My simple honey jar trials… I set up two hives with three honey jars on each. The idea was to check the ratio of pollen vs honey from front to back jars. I’ve seen people say the jars get too much pollen in them so I thought I better try it out. “Hive 1” was […]

Image: Cracking Box. Art by David Nash https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/cracking-box-259130 There is no industry standard when it comes to native bee boxes and design is a can of worms… There’s lots of people making and selling native bee boxes, registered businesses and hobbyists with a wide range of designs and build quality and I make no claims […]

There’s been plenty of concerns over the years about council spraying mangrove areas with pesticides to control mosquitos and if it has any adverse effects on our native stingless bees. Dr Brian Johnson (QIMRB) and Dr James Hereward (UQ) presented their research at the Brisbane branch of the ANBA – 6 February 2022. Brian is a […]

In this four part video series Doug covers various hive building subjects… Trailer – 30 seconds Video 1 – Dougs Shed Tour – 20mins Video 2 – Basic Joints – 12mins Video 3 – Finger Joints – 20mins Video 4 – Tin Roofs, Spring Clips and Brackets – 24mins Below: 30 second trailer Video 1 […]

Sometimes great opportunities come along in life and I consider this one, a day pottering in the woodshed with Doug Irvine! Doug Irvine is a legend in the stingless bee world, creating works of art disguised as native bee boxes with a style and design that amazes customers and eludes box makers. It’s an effort […]

Native Bee Identification, Ecology & Beekeeping with Tobias Smith This was a one day workshop held at Qld Uni with a short presentation covering the basics then in to the lab for a three hour bee identification session using Toby’s very own book “The Australian bee genera – An annotated, user friendly key“. The lab […]

Jen from Craigslea State School – Sustainability Project contacted me looking for photos she could use. Jen has gone to a lot of effort with this project, also putting together some great posters for the school and was kind enough to send me some photos and info on the project – below… Text and photos […]

Okinja Early Learning Centre recently received funding for new additions to their outdoor area. Kristy – Manager at Okinja said they’re setting up the new area with raised garden beds for vegies, adding citrus trees, a shade sail, and most importantly, the native bee hive! I delivered the hive today and with local legend Mario […]

John from Varsity Native Bees saw this nice looking empty wooden hive box at Little Bees Secret Garden at Canungra and had to have it, then invited Peter Davenport to transfer a colony from a hive owned by Susan at Presto Creatives. The workshop was open to the public and held at the Presto Creatives […]