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Sunday, 6 December 2015

Stingless Bees

If you look carefully you can see some of the little black Australian native stingless bees flying around this Grevillea sp. They are probably Trigona sp. There are three in this photo that I can see. How many can you spot? They have a very characteristic jizz, with dangling hind legs which are modified for carrying pollen. The dozen or so species of Australian stingless bees are all tropical but some come down the east coast to south of Sydney.

In recent years it has become rather trendy in suitable areas of Australia for hobby apiarists to keep native bees. They live communally and produce a small quantity of honey, known as 'sugarbag', which can be harvested.
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2 comments:

lejardindelucie said...

Merci Suzan pour votre piste de recherche pour mieux identifier les punaises australiennes!

Ces minuscules abeilles sont bien difficiles à voir, mais il est certain que toutes , elles contribuent à la pollinisation des plantes de notre environnement! Et, il est très intéressant de les observer afin de mieux les connaître.

8 December 2015 at 07:37
Susan said...

I hope David can help you with the bugs (or put you on to someone else who can).

Stingless bees are fun to watch. I'm not surprised beekeepers take to them. Interestingly, when asked, they usually say they are keeping them for environmental/conservation/biodiversity reasons. The tiny amount of honey they provide is not really the object. I must say that if I still lived in Australia I'd be tempted to get a colony.

8 December 2015 at 09:09

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