Hopefully this article will get you started in the right direction. This page lightly touches on everything from Bee species through workshops, publications and clubs. As a buyer you have a duty of care, once you have bees you should keep learning how to best care for them.
Which bees do you like?
There’s over 1600 known species of native bees in Australia, most of those are Solitary Bees, with 11 species being Social Stingless Bees.
Solitary Bees
As the name suggests, Solitary bees just hang out by themselves and you don’t “keep” them. You can create suitable habitats to attract them to your yard, or build a Bee Hotel that creates a home for certain species.
Most Native Bees build their nests under ground.
We’d all love to keep bees like the Blue Banded Bee and Great Carpenter Bee but the most we can do is try to attract them to the area by creating suitable habitats. (Blue Banded Bees and Carpenter Bees wont use Bee Hotels)
Bee Hotels
Bee hotels will only be useful for certain kinds of bees, like Leaf Cutter Bees and Resin Bees. You can make your own Bee Hotel by drilling holes in a block of wood or wooden stump, or making a pile of Bamboo that has small hollows. You may also find some Bee Hotels available for sale on some websites. It can be best to buy hotels that are suitable for local native bees. Cheap bee hotels available from major shops may not be suitable.
Social Stingless Bees
These are the ones that you can buy and keep in hives. The most common species would be Tetragonula Carbonaria and Tetragonula Hockingsi, which live in areas along the east coast of Australia, from around Sydney and upwards.
Honey
If you want to supply your family or start selling honey these may not be the ones for you as they only produce small amounts of honey, roughly 1kg per year and it’s not simple to extract. A lot of people do extract the honey for personal use and some in the industry even sell it in limited quantities.
Where can you buy Stingless Bees?
Some things to be aware of before purchasing native bees
What species are suitable for your location. Most likely you’ll be buying Carbonaria, Hockingsi or Australis. Most sellers will post the hive including bees so you can discuss if your location is suitable with the seller.
Is the hive box made to a reasonable quality. Most boxes will be fine. You might want to avoid boxes that look really rough with gaps everywhere. Pests and water can enter via gaps.
Does the seller offer a guarantee. It’s not uncommon for random sellers on Gumtree to sell hives without much knowledge about the bees. Some people may sell a weak colony that has low chances of survival. They might be cheaper but the risk is higher, that’s ok if you know what you’re looking at. The safer option if you don’t know anything about stingless bees is to buy from a well known seller. They’ll offer a guarantee and also provide great advice and support later on if you have questions.
Prices for a box full with bees range from $350 to $800. A lot depends on the quality or design of the box, the strength of the colony and the quality of the seller and support you receive. It’s a good idea to do some research on bees and sellers so you know you’ll have support if you need it.
There’s a list of regular sellers on the aussiebee website listed here: https://www.aussiebee.com.au/buy-stingless-bees.html
…and also on the links page: https://www.nativebeehives.com/links/
All hive boxes need a roof!
A good roof shelters the box from the Sun and rain. If a colony gets too hot it can die. If water runs down the side of the box it can sit in any gaps or joins and over time rot the wood.
A well made box will have no gaps and nicely fitting joins but water or moisture can get in to anything over time. Wood can and does shrink and expand and this can cause gaps for moisture to enter.
Be careful when making your own box or buying a cheap one, check for gaps and nicely fitting joins.
Can i buy or make a box and get the bees later?
Native Stingless Bees are sold in their own box. You can’t buy the bee colony on its own.
If you have identified a stingless bee hive in a log or water meter, you could make or buy an empty box and transfer the colony to it. It’s not really recommended if you have no experience with native bees as you could end up killing the whole colony.
Sellers do sell empty boxes but they are intended for people that already have bees and are going to multiply their hives.
Native Bee Workshops
Workshops are a great hands on way to learn and are held by various people throughout the year. Keep an eye on the Native Bee Hive facebook page for upcoming events.
Publications
Native Bee Ag Guide by Tocal College
http://www.tocal.nsw.edu.au/publications/list/animals/australian-native-bees
A GUIDE TO NATIVE BEES OF AUSTRALIA by Terry Houston
http://www.publish.csiro.au/book/7388/#author
The Australian Native Bee Book by Tim Heard (focused on Stingless Bees)
https://www.nativebeebook.com.au
Australian Stingless Bees by John Klumpp – (focused on Stingless Bees)
http://www.earthling.com.au/01_cms/details.asp?ID=17
Clubs
Sometimes it can be best to meet people in person. Many knowledgeable people don’t spend too much time on social media.
Visit the Australian Native Bee Association to find a club or meeting near you. www.anba.org.au
Research – Check and confirm information
There’s a lot of incorrect information passed around on social media. Try to seek out info from people that have actual experience with the subject and not third hand information.
If you have any questions you can use the Contact Form to send me a message – https://www.nativebeehives.com/contact/
Welcome to the native bee community!
Other useful articles on this website:
- Stingless Bee FAQs https://www.nativebeehives.com/native-stingless-bees-tetragonula-carbonaria/
- Build or Buy Empty Boxes https://www.nativebeehives.com/build-or-buy-empty-boxes/
- Creating a new hive https://www.nativebeehives.com/creating-a-new-hive/
- Hive positions https://www.nativebeehives.com/hive-positions-tips/
