Australian Native Bees | News & Info

Data Logger Housing

Year 2021: I started out just mounting the data logging units on the outside of the hive box then after some heavy rain some where exposed to a bit of water and failed. The wires were always a bit messy

Read More »

One Piece Native Bee Hive Box

Specs: These boxes will be good for budding/eduction/transfers/rescues and ideal for people that don’t like to split. By using a one piece box and not being splittable there’s no joins or gaps for pests or water to enter so you

Read More »

Witch House Hive

Inspired by the photo below, this is built to house stingless bees, with a volume of 7 litres. 242 roof shingles, making a total of around 400 pieces of wood, and a few days work… A lot of work went

Read More »

Log Cabin – Shaped Logs

Similar design to my original “basic log cabin“, I’ve spent a fair bit of time shaping the logs for a more natural log look and I think they’ve turned out ok. These split the same as a standard native bee

Read More »

External Piped Honey Super

Mitch from Central Highland Native Bees has done a bit of work with the “Externally piped honey super concept”, see his Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/centralhighlandnativebees This is an updated version to my previous design of 2020. Photos show the white

Read More »

Budding Box – non split

This is a one piece non splittable box with added honey super on top. This is not a new idea as others have made similar designs, but I have made a few for my own entertainment, research and testing. Staying

Read More »

Observation Box with Removable Insert

This box can house one single standard native bee box frame (OATH design) or a larger volume frame that can stay in place. Removable OATH frame volume of around 3.1 litres. The advantage of the removable frame is that once

Read More »

Hive Stand – Wood Stool

Multi-function hive stand that can hold two boxes. The stool is square with the same dimensions in any direction so the boxes can be placed in any position. You can also sit on it or use it as a side

Read More »

Observation Tower with extras

Observation Tower with extras This observation tower stays with the same style as previous 7 litre observation boxes though i have sectioned off a small area at the top to house a jar and data logger. This reduces the live

Read More »

Shipping Crate Hive

Shipping Crate Box: I’ve been working on a few of these crate style hive boxes of various sizes. The construction seems simple but they have been quite a task with 52 pieces of wood in the square boxes and 60

Read More »

Observation Log

Observation Logs – 6.5 Litre and 3 litre There’s a few curves and angles in these ones. Hopefully they will give the feel of looking inside a real tree hollow. Double doors . double sided viewing. 35mm thick Cypress. Observation

Read More »

50mm Cypress Beast Box

Is bigger better? For my own entertainment I whacked together a 50mm Cypress box. These boxes are just being used for future temperature testing. We might think that a bigger thicker box is going to provide better insulation but there’s

Read More »

Camphor Laurel Native Bee Box

Can I make a native bee box from Camphor laurel? That questions comes up every now and then. Some say you can’t and some say you can, though I’m not sure if it’s just the usual third hand information spread

Read More »

Observation Towers

Observation Towers – 3 and 7 litres These are ideal for Budding / Eductions for Tetragonula Carbonaria and Tetragonula Hockingsi. You will get to see colonies being created, that’s what Observation boxes are all about. Previous design box… See more

Read More »

Cypress Native Bee Box

Cypress Native Bee Box These boxes were custom made to match some previous boxes with some slight changes. The Cypress frames are rebated to add to the strength if you want to run over it with your car and all

Read More »

Settlers Log Cabin Native Bee Hive

Prize winner for Expo 2023 – Judges choice and Peoples choice! While this Log Cabin is a little more detailed than previous builds, it’s still the classic design and even has a little yellow native bee hive on the front

Read More »

Fairy Door Hive

This idea came from Simone as part of the recent “Suggestions 2020” post. Simone posted this photo from Google that shows the Fairy Door on a big tree, I’ve interpreted it in to a Native Bee Observation Box. This will

Read More »

Basic Observation Hive

Basic Observation Hive Box This is a very basic style of a tower observation box. It has one single internal space with a volume of 6.2 litres. You could easily make them different sizes, larger or smaller. Tips for getting

Read More »

Display Tower with Frames

Display Tower with Removable Frames Note: This is a new design and is still being tested so availability will be limited to “beta testing” boxes. Sarah from Bee Yourself – Brisbane Native Bee Business, was looking for an observation hive

Read More »

Display Tower

Native Stingless Bee Display Tower This is an observation hive box intended for displays and education. This could be set up at demonstrations, markets or just at home for fun. A hinged door on each side so it can be

Read More »