Aussie Bee Bulletin
Rare photos and intriguing facts on the secret lives of Australian Native Bees.

Issue 3 (August 1997)

THIS ISSUE'S FEATURED BEE Metallic Carpenter Bee Xylocopa (Lestis)

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INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

CARPENTER BEES, THE GRASS TREE QUEENS - The metallic green bees are important buzz pollinators but sadly their survival is currently endangered by land clearing. How you can help preserve these stunning bees!

A GENTLE BREED OF STINGLESS BEE - Austroplebeia australis, a gentle bee, with its higgledy-piggledy honey pots built inside hollow trees, can make a wonderful garden pet.

AUSSIE BEE WINTER RESIDENCE - A HOT FAVORITE WITH THE BEES! The winter temperature in the Blue Moutains averages just 15 degrees Centigrade but the nests inside the Winter Residence enjoy temperatures of up to the high 30's. The tropical stingless bees love it!

A NATIVE BEE POLLINATOR OF GLASSHOUSE TOMATOES - European bumble bees are efficient pollinators of crops such as tomatoes and lobbyists are pushing to allow their release on the Australian mainland. But why import another another exotic insect when some native bees - such as carpenter bees - could be equally good pollinators, asks Dr Katya Hogendorn of Flinders University.

CARPENTER BEES GET A BUZZ OUT OF RAINFOREST REGENERATION - Just a single shrub of the species Melastoma affine is sufficient to begin rainforest regeneration because it can form viable seed when crossed with itself. But to do this, it needs some help from our native bees.

ON NATIVE BEE SAFARI: KALUMBURU MONASTERY, WA - A 6,000 km journey led Les and Anne Dollin to a monastery on the remote north coast of the Kimberleys and the small Trigona mellipes stingless bee species which has been lost for one hundred years.

STINGLESS BEES IN 1883 (PART 3) - In this account written over 100 years ago, Harold Hockings introduces us to the Austroplebeia australis stingless bee species, how they defend themselves and how they raise their young.

THE BEE'S KNEES (PART 1) - The front legs of native bees are wonderful structures which not only help them get about but also are important for grooming, food collection and courtship.