I’ve made or bought an empty box, where can I get bees from?
Native Stingless Bees will always come in a box or log of their own. You can’t buy bees by themselves. Empty boxes sold by box makers are intended for people that already have boxes full of bees and want to multiply their colonies by splitting, budding or transferring colonies. There can be confusion with people buying empty boxes and looking for bees later, often asking on social media and then being disappointed by the answers. If you have already bought an empty box you can still use it later for multiplying your colonies in future.
Where can I buy a hive full of live bees?
ok, slow down… breathe 1, 2, 3. … I know you’re excited and just want it now… take your time and do some research first!
If you’re buying a hive with bees make sure you get a 6 to 12 month Guarantee or a Warranty that the hive will survive. When buying from an unknown seller from Facebook or Gumtree, they might be cheap but the risk could be higher if the seller is inexperienced. Sometimes hives can look healthy but can slowly die out over many months. Prices can range from $350 to $700 depending on the strength of the colony, quality of the box and level of support you receive.
What is the best style of hive box to buy?
So far there’s no evidence to suggest any one design or box is better than another one. Find out more here . Transferring a healthy colony from one box to another box just to have your own brand label on the box is not good practice.
You should consider a future plan here. I advise people to start out with a standard design. Multiply your hives over a few years and then when you have a few hives you could add a unique or fancy design box to your collection.
If you’re prepared to transfer the bees in to the new box or try Budding you could get something unique in design.
Stingless Bees aren’t fussy about what they’re home looks like, as long as the volume is big enough to support their colony and provides a safe environment for them providing protection against pests, weather and extreme temperatures.
More information on this here: https://www.nativebeehives.com/what-kind-of-box-should-i-get/
Can I paint my hive box with the bees inside?
You sure can. It’s been done by many people. Using normal water based paint. Paint the ouside at any time of the day but maybe paint the front at night time when the bees are inside so they don’t crawl around on the wet paint.
Can I mix and match boxes?
Most standard style native bee boxes will be using external ldimensions of 280mm long x 200mm wide and come as two or three separate frames. There’s so many different people making boxes using different materials from 12mm plywood to 50mm cypress. All these box styles can usually be split with each other. It doesn’t matter if you have a box made up of different materials. 12mm plywood base mixed with a 30mm hoop pine middle frame.
My hive has gone quiet – Possible reasons
- In winter stingless bee colonies will naturally reduce in size and be less active. They wont fly when the temperature is below 18c.
- The colony may be declining in strength and have less or no foragers. If the hive has no activity and it’s a warm day you may have to open the hive to check the health.
My bees have gone
Stingless bees don’t abandon the hive. If your hive box has no bees in it, it’s likely the colony has just died out. This can happen for many reasons, failure to re-queen, too cold for too long, overheated in summer etc
Can I move my hive to a different location?
There’s different options here. Bees know where live and how to navigate to return to the correct location. If you move your hive box the foragers will fly out and most likely return to the old location. If you lock the bees inside the box at night, always allow air flow in to the hive by using some kind of vented plug.
- To move it a short distance, a few metres or from one side of the yard to another, you can move it a small amount each day, around 50cm each day until you reach the desired position.
- To move it a larger distance where it’s a bit harder, like from the front yard to the back yard, you can lock the bees inside the box at night and move the box 1km or greater away for a couple of weeks and then move it to the new location.
- Even larger distances like if you move suburbs, towns or even sell the hive, just lock the bees inside the box at night and move to the new location and open the hive the next day.
When can I split my hive?
You should only split your hive if it has a very strong population and usually only once a year. Popular information suggests once a year starting from September to March. Locations with less extreme temperatures have been known to be able to split at any time of the year. In cold areas or if you’ve had poor weather for the year it might be best to only split every two years.
Do I need to split my hive?
No, if you’re happy with not splitting it then that’s fine, there’s no need to split a hive. If a hive has a very strong population it may naturally split itself. They won’t leave your current hive box, they will just create a new colony close by
Why are my bees swarming?
- It’s most likely a mating swarm. The bees may swarm around your hive box for a week or two, this is normal.
- If it’s a fighting swarm or take over you will see lots of fighting or dead bees on the ground in front of the hive box. Your colony may be taken over by another stronger colony if it can’t defend itself. One problem with this is that your colony may be weakened and be more susceptible to pest attack. Most times it will be ok. If you’re worried you can close up your colony at night and move it to a new location 1 km away. If you know you have a weak colony the take over may be of benefit to you.
Hive Rescue / Transfer?
The “Rescue” term is thrown around a bit. People say they’re rescuing a colony of bees but they might just be transferring it from somewhere to somewhere else and possibly at great risk of killing the colony in the process. People cause significant damage and disturbance to colonies unnecessarily.
It’s usually best to leave any wild hive where it is. Sometimes that may not be possible as the tree might be rotting away or the hive may be in a place where it could be sprayed by pest control or in a water meter box. The hive could be transferred in to a hive box to remove it from an unsafe area. If the colony is located in places like a brick wall or under a concrete slab then you wont be able to remove it without destroying the structure.
I have heard plenty of stories of sellers/rescuers transferring a colony or half a colony in to an empty box and it failing months later, so even experienced people can make a mess of this and you don’t hear of the failures.
Should I buy a rescued colony?
I’d advise against buying a recently rescued colony of stingless bees. They may look good to start when you collect the colony, but the success rate can be low. Atleast make sure there’s a 6 to 12 month guarantee if you pay money for them. Article: https://www.nativebeehives.com/top-tips-for-new-buyers-of-stingless-bee-colonies/
The Splitting vs Eduction Debate?
This can be a never ending debate that we see on social media. Be aware that a lot of people repeat opinion with little experience on the subject. People will try one method with disappointing results and then run a campaign against the method.
Found bees in a brick wall or under a concrete slab?
Firstly you would have to identify the bees. If they’re stingless bees you wont be able to encourage them to move out. They wont leave their colony. The only way to remove the colony is to take apart the wall or concrete and physically remove the colony. You can connect an empty box and create a new colony but the old colony will still exist.
Popular species of Stingless Bees?
- Tetragonula carbonaria – Sometimes referred to as “Tc”
- Tetragonula hockingsi – “Th”
- Austroplebeia australis – “Aa”
- Tetragonula clypearis
- Tetragonula sapiens
- Austroplebeia cincta – https://www.aussiebee.com.au/stingless-bees-cincta.html
- Find out what’s natural to your area https://www.aussiebee.com.au/beesinyourarea.html
Pests that can destroy hives?
- Hive Syrphid Fly – Ceriana ornata
- Hive Phorid Fly – Dohrniphora trigonae
- Small Hive Beetle – Aethina tumida
What are they talking about?
Here’s some weird words you may hear in the Native Bee World…
- Sugar Bag – Native Bee Honey
- Propolis – Mixture of Native Bee wax and plant resin
- Cerumen – Mixture of Native Bee wax and plant resin
- Involucrum – An enveloping membrane that protects the brood
- OATH – Original Australian Trigona Hive
- Honey Super – Part of the box that is intended for honey storage
- Brood Supports – Parts of the hive box that stop the brood from dropping downward
- Brood Excluder – usually a panel that stops the brood from being built to the next frame
- Honey Super Separator Plate – same as Brood Excluder
- Budding or Soft Split – Connecting a new box to an existing hive for duplication
- Eduction – Same as Budding. Often mistakenly called Education or Induction
- Micro Colony – A small amount of brood, bees and resources, barely surviving and possibly being assisted by humans.
Websites & Publications
Australian Native Bee Association http://www.anba.org.au
Aussie Bee – http://www.aussiebee.com.au/ Heaps of info about all kinds of native bees.
Sellers list for where to buy Native Stingless Bees https://www.nativebeehives.com/links/
Australian Bee Book by Tim Heard – available on https://www.hivecraft.com.au
What kind of bees live in my area?
https://www.aussiebee.com.au/beesinyourarea.html
