Native Bee Links

Great Insect Websites

Australian Stingless Native Bees
Abundant stories, photos and fact sheets on stingless native bees by Russell and Janine Zabel. Tetragonula carbonaria (previously called Trigona carbonaria) and Austroplebeia australis nest sales. Boxing and nest rescue services.

Sugarbag: Honey and Wax from Stingless Bees
Great photos and information about stingless bees and their honey (sugarbag) and waxes (cerumen) by Dr Tim Heard. Hive sales and beekeeping resources.

ANBees Yahoo! Chat Group
An active forum for discussions on all sorts of Australian native bee topics.

ANBees Website
A website compiled by the members of the ANBees Yahoo! chat group, with articles, photos and information about Australian native bees.

BeesBusiness
Great articles and photos on native bees compiled by Megan Halcroft of the University of Western Sydney.

Wildthings
Wildthings is an exciting program by Peter Clarke in the Ku-ring-gai area of Sydney which promotes caring for native animals including stingless bees. This page is a fact sheet on Trigona carbonaria (recently renamed Tetragonula carbonaria) by Alan Ashhurst.

Australian Insect Farm
Meet giant litter bugs, rhinoceros beetles, flower beetles, large stick insects, mantids, water bugs, butterflies, the giant Hercules moth and many more fascinating Aussie insects.

Jane Davenport - Photographic Artist of Insects
Fabulous colourful photos of bees, ladybirds and many other bugs, including a kamikazi blue banded bee in Jane's 'Artomology' collection. Great shutterbug tips for photographers.

Australian Scientific Research into Native Bees

The Social Insects Lab
At the University of Sydney, Dr Ben Oldroyd's group is studying the behaviour and genetics of social insects including Australian stingless bees.

Social Behaviour and Ecology of Native Bees
At Flinders University in South Australia, Dr Michael Schwarz and his group are studying social behaviour and ecology of native bees. His site includes some unusual native bee photographs under the 'Images' tab.

Major Revision of the Stingless Bee Species in the genus Trigona
The Australian Native Bee Research Centre published a major revision of the species in the stingless bees genus Trigona* in 1997. A summary of the paper can be found at this link.
*Recently renamed Tetragonula

TV Programs on Native Bees

Gardening Australia
ABC's Gardening Australia presented a second program on native bees on 20th August 2004. Featuring interviews with Anne Dollin of the ANBRC and Melissa Bell of the University of Western Sydney, the program discussed the native stingless honeybees and the potential of native blue banded bees for greenhouse tomato pollination.

Catalyst
ABC's Catalyst on 6 May 2004 covered the controversial issue of whether we should import European bumblebees to the Australian mainland for crop pollination. Featured an interview with Melissa Bell of the University of Western Sydney with her research into a native bee alternative - the blue banded bee.

Gardening Australia
ABC’s Gardening Australia recorded a segment called “The Buzz” devoted to native bees and the work of the Australian Native Bee Research Centre. The segment was hosted by Mary Moody and was shown on 25th and 27th February 2000, and again on 29th and 31st of December 2000. This link is Gardening Australia’s Fact Sheet on the program.

Radio Programs on Native Bees

Bush Telegraph
ABC's Bush Telegraph presented a segment on native bees on 2nd August 2006. Dr Tim Heard of CSIRO and Mark Greco of the University of Western Sydney told listeners all about honey production and crops pollination with stingless bees.

Earthbeat
ABC's Earthbeat presented a program on native bees on 11th April 1998. Les and Anne Dollin of the Australian Native Bee Research Centre were interviewed as guest speakers.

Major Advances Overseas in Using Native Bees for Pollination

Populations of commercial honeybees in USA have plumetted due to the spread of varroa mites. Several groups are researching the use of native bees as alternative pollinators for crops....

Alternative Pollinators: Native Bees
This website, hosted by Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas (ATTRA) in Arizona, USA, gives information on many American native bees including digger bees, alkali bees, leafcutter bees and even shaggy fuzzyfoot bees!

Solitary Bees: An Addition to Honey Bees
This site, created originally by the University of Idaho, covers bees such as hornfaced bees and blue orchard bees with suggestions for school science projects.

New Mexico Native Bee Pollinator Project
This page describes the uses of native bees for fruit growers.

Bee Diverse
Native mason bees are used by backyard gardeners in Canada for pollination. Small wooden bee houses provide nesting sites for mason bees and other solitary bees. Mason bees have similar nesting habits to Australian resin bees.

Other Websites on Australian Wildlife

Flora for Fauna
Find out how to attract butterflies, frogs, lizards and birds to your garden at the comprehensive Flora for Fauna website. Find out the best plants to use in your local area and print out great fact sheets on soils, native plants and wildlife visitors. This site also offers detailed reference lists and answers to common flora and fauna questions.

Australian Fauna Supplies
Advice and equipment from Brad Walker to help you keep captive-bred reptiles. Free wallpaper downloads with high resolution photos of Australian wildlife.

Manuals on Keeping Insects
The Australasian Zookeeping website has an informative list of husbandry manuals that are available, on keeping many types of insects -- such as stick insects, dung beetles, grasshoppers and butterflies.