How can you help conserve our

native bees?

Native Stingless Bees

Tetragonula Carbonaria

Plant a garden that supports native bee species.

Keep insecticide use to a minimum (if using
insecticides use them when bees are less likely to
be moving around eg. the coldest part of the day or
night).
Attend one of Councils WildThings talks.
Host a hive of native bees in your backyard.

Tetragonula carbonaria guarding the hive entrance

About WildThings

Current WildThings projects include:

Tetragonula carbonaria brood cells containing eggs

Pool to pond

Want to learn more?

Native beehive placement

Read Australian Stingless Bees by John Klumpp,

a valuable handbook and a great support for anyone
interested in keeping native bees.

If you are passionate about our wildlife and its presence in

our local areas - why not get help in your own backyard?

Join the discussion on the native bee forum on

Yahoo www.groups.yahoo.com/group/ANBees.
Discover some great pictures of native bees by
looking up websites such as Pinterest or Flickr.
Join Ku-ring-gai Councils WildThings program
www.kmc.nsw.gov.au/wildthings.
W
 atch our Envirotube channel on YouTube:
www.youtube.com/user/greenstylenorth.

www.kmc.nsw.gov.au/wildthings
February, 2014

Native beehive entrance in a tree hollow

Eyeweed

Ku-ring-gai Councils WildThings program aims to protect

urban wildlife and create habitat in our backyards to
encourage the return of wildlife.

Life in the hive

About Councils native bee program

A
 hive of the local Tetragonula carbonaria is home to
a community of between 6,000 and 10,000 bees.

K
 u-ring-gai Council's WildThings program runs an
initiative to give Ku-ring-gai residents a stingless
Tetragonula carbonaria native bee hive.

T
 he hive structure is similar to that of the Apis
honeybee, including a queen, workers and drones.
T
 he workers play a key role in the health of a hive -
scouting for food, collecting pollen, building the
brood and guarding the hive.

teejaybee

T
 etragonula bees are active in a temperature range
of 18-40 degrees.
E
 ach day native bees travel up to km to source food,
compared to Apis honeybees that travel 5-10km.

About our native bees: did you know?

Australia has over 1,500 species of native bees.

K
 u-ring-gai Councils native bee program does not
set up hives for honey collection.

Native bees can be between 2mm and 24mm long.

T
 his popular program operates on a seasonal basis,
splitting established hives and distributing a limited
number in spring to summer each year.

Our native bees can be black, yellow, red, metallic

green or even black with blue bands.
Most native bees are solitary, only 10 species live in a
social hive.

Interested in receiving a hive?

S
 ocial native bees are stingless (all other species
can sting).

Why care for bees?

Bees are essential members of our ecological
communities, playing a vital role in pollinating
our food crops and native plants.

Worldwide bee communities are under threat and

bee numbers are decreasing. Thankfully, native
bees are not being impacted by the diseases
and pests that are affecting the Apis honeybees.

Land clearing and people mistaking bees for flies are

key threats to native bee populations.

Ku-ring-gai resident

The bees pollinate both native and introduced plants

and help to create a positive relationship between
people and this native insect.

Tetragonula carbonaria

Tetragonula carbonaria is the only species of social

bee native to the Ku-ring-gai area.

We keep our hive on the back verandah

so we see the bees coming and going
throughout the day. When people visit our
home they are fascinated to watch the
movements of the bees and learn about
their behaviour.

Inside a Tetragonula hive - the spiral formation contains eggs

Do native bees make honey?

Contact Councils WildThings team to receive details

of our hive availability:
E wildthings@kmc.nsw.gov.au

P 9424 0000

S
 olitary bees collect tiny amounts of nectar to feed
their young but do not store honey in their nests.
S
 ocial bees such as Tetragonula produce a small
amount of honey that is stored in clusters of resin
pots near the extremities of the nest.
N
 ative bee honey, called Sugarbag, was prized by
Aboriginal people who collected it from wild hives.
A
 stingless bee hive produces up to kg of honey
a year as opposed to the Apis honeybee hive that
produces around 20-25kg per year.

www.kmc.nsw.gov.au/wildthings

WildThings staff splitting a Tetragonula hive