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AUSSIE BEE EMAIL UPDATE
NEWS ON THE LATEST NATIVE BEE
ARTICLES, BOOKLETS, EVENTS AND RESEARCH
Number 20 / December 2011
Topics in this Issue:
1. ASIAN HONEYBEE CRISIS
2. WORLD RECORD BREAKING SOLITARY BEE HOUSES
3. AUSSIE BEE WEBSITE ON FACEBOOK
4. NEW NATIVE BEE PHOTOS AND VIDEOS
5. UPCOMING NATIVE BEE EVENTS
1. ASIAN HONEYBEE CRISIS
Please help keep Australia free of another invasive feral insect.
Just five minutes of your time is requested.
Feral Asian honeybees (Apis cerana) have recently become
established in the Cairns area of Queensland. These highly invasive
feral bees compete with native bees and birds for food and nesting
sites. They also threaten Australia's $80 million honey industry
and pollination services worth up to $7 billion.
Despite opposition from apiarist and environmental groups, the
Federal Government has just announced that they consider this pest
bee too difficult to eradicate. They have downgraded their response
to management work -- accepting that this invasive bee is here to
stay.
However, beekeepers are fighting back, donating their time to help
find these feral bees in Cairns. They are also lobbying the
Government to reverse its decision and to support further
eradication work -- before it is too late.
Could you help by sending in an email or letter, saying that all
efforts should be made to eradicate these Asian honeybees?
Please email your comments to:
senator.ludwig@aph.gov.au
or write a letter to:
Hon. Joe Ludwig
Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
Please visit our website for further information, including:
-- likely impacts of these bees on the environment, on
Australia's honey industry and on our urban backyards
-- suggestions to help you write your email or letter
http://www.aussiebee.com.au/asian-honeybees.html
2. WORLD RECORD BREAKING SOLITARY BEE HOUSES
England's solitary bees must be buzzing with delight! Two regional
communities have built massive bee houses designed for their local
solitary bees.
The United Kingdom has 250 species of solitary bees including mason
bees (similar to our resin bees) and leafcutter bees. Just like the
better known social honeybees, these important solitary bee species
are threatened by shortages of food and nesting sites.
In 2010 the Kent Wildlife Trust and volunteers built an artificial
nest site (or 'bee house') for solitary bees that covered an area
of nearly 12 sq m. It was a world record! Then in 2011, volunteers
helped the London Wildlife Trust build an even bigger solitary bee
house in Barking, east London. It measured 16.5 sq m. Both bee
houses would have provided enough narrow holes for the nests of
thousands of mason and leafcutter bees.
See videos of these amazing solitary bee houses being built:
http://www.aussiebee.com.au/world-record-beehouses.html
3. AUSSIE BEE WEBSITE ON FACEBOOK
Aussie Bee Website has just launched its own Facebook Page to help
spread the word about Australian native bees. Facebook is a great
site for sharing photos, so we will be using this page to show you
some of our rarely-seen native bee photos from our archives.
To start this off, we have put an album of photos on our Facebook
Page about our adventurous 1983 native bee safari to Cape York. See
how we battled our way through remote Cape York in our classic blue
Landcruiser and the fascinating native bees we found along the way.
To go with these photos we have also reprinted two popular articles
from Aussie Bee Bulletin about this Cape York safari. You can read
these articles free of charge in our Aussie Bee Online series:
http://www.aussiebee.com.au/abol-current.html
Please visit and support our new Aussie Bee Website Facebook Page:
http://www.facebook.com/aussiebeewebsite
4. NEW NATIVE BEE PHOTOS AND VIDEOS
Don't miss this year's fabulous collection of native bee photos and
videos which have been contributed to Aussie Bee by six talented
photographers. Anyone who has tried to photograph a skittish native
bee in their garden will realise just how difficult these images
were to capture.
See stunning close-up images of carpenter bees, blue banded bees,
cuckoo bees, leafcutter bees and more by Erica Siegel, 'Peter O',
Corinne Jordan-Ivers, Ernst van der Veen, Belinda Griffiths and
Kathleen Coffey.
To view these spectacular native bee photos, please visit:
http://www.aussiebee.com.au/new-native-bee-photos.html
And to watch these exclusive native bee videos, please visit:
http://www.aussiebee.com.au/videos-native-bees.html
5. UPCOMING NATIVE BEE EVENTS
QUEENSLAND
WORKSHOPS ON STINGLESS BEEKEEPING
BY DR TIM HEARD, CSIRO
Moreton Bay Regional Council, Queensland
The next workshop will be on 28 January 2012 at:
Kumbartcho Sanctuary,15 Bunya Pine Court, Eatons Hill.
Call David Logan at Community and Environmental Services on (07)
5433 2122 to register.
Gold Coast City Council, Queensland
The next workshop will be on 12 May 2012, 9:30-3:30.
To register, contact Natural Areas Management Unit on
(07) 5581 1521 or namu@goldcoast.qld.gov.au
Redlands City Council, Queensland
The next workshop will be in 2012 (date to be decided) at Redlands
IndigiScapes Centre, Capalaba.
Phone IndigiScapes on (07) 3824 8611 to make a booking.
NEW SOUTH WALES
SEMINARS ON NATIVE BEES
BY DR MICHAEL BATLEY, AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM
The next seminar will be in the Lane Cove area in May 2012. Further
details will be available in a few weeks.
Check the Aussie Bee website for updates:
http://www.aussiebee.com.au/seminars.html
Bye for now.
Kind regards
Anne Dollin
Aussie Bee
Copyright (C) 2011 Australian Native Bee Research Centre. All Rights Reserved.
Australian Native Bee Research Centre / Aussie Bee
PO Box 74, North Richmond NSW 2754, Australia
Fax: (02) 4576 1196.
Promoting the Preservation and Enjoyment of Australian Native Bees
Visit our Website! http://www.aussiebee.com.au
© 2011 Australian Native Bee Research Centre
PO Box 74, North Richmond NSW 2754, Australia
Fax: 02-4576 1196
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