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

Issue 4 (November 1997)

THIS ISSUE'S FEATURED BEE World's Smallest Bee (Quasihesma)

Click here for full-sized image

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

THE WORLD'S SMALLEST BEES - In the wilds of Cape York lives a minute bee, less than 2 mm long, named Quasihesma. Dr Elizabeth Exley and Dr Ken Walker had to go to amazing lengths to study these tiny bees which loved to forage on the very top blossoms of tall gum trees!

THE SOCIAL NATIVE BEE WHICH LIKES THE COMPANY OF PEOPLE - Trigona clypearis is a miniature social stingless bee on Cape York Queensland which has made good use of the homes of man, nesting in wall cavities, doors, water pipes and even tea pots!

THE BEE'S KNEES - Take a very close up look at the remarkable legs and toes of Australian native bees, at the amazing structures which help the bees carry food, crawl through burrows or even walk upside-down!

AN INCINERATOR FOR A HOME - Russell Zabel describes his rescue of a nest of stingless social native bees from an incinerator.

THE BEE THAT GOES FISHING FOR POLLEN - Solitary bees form the genus Leioproctus have learnt a special trick to fish pollen from the narrow blooms of the geebung bush.

AN OLD NATIVE BEE FARMING AREA OF THE ABORIGINES - Les and Anne Dollin of the Australian Native Bee Research Centre found a remarkable Aboriginal native bee hunting ground on the edge of the Kimberleys on their wild outback native bee safari in 1985.

TARLTON RAYMENT, A REMARKABLE NATURALIST OF AUSTRALIA'S PAST - Born 115 years ago, Tarlton Rayment, an amateur naturalist, brought Australian native bees to the attention of the public in a remarkable way, through hundreds of charming magazine articles, a beautifully illustrated book and Australia's first ever films of native bees.