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Bees
Just notice in the last few weeks that there are no bees in the garden. I
thought maybe its to hot for them at the moment (Perth), but today was milder and not one bee insight. Can anyone enlighten me? pez |
Bees
Maybe the beekeeper who was in, say, a 10k radius (though probably less) to
your suburban house has moved his hive to more 'greener' pastures. I grow a lot of vegetables in my garden and I like the bees to come around as much as possible. Plant some really good bee attracting plants and they may come back. Borage is my favorite, it self seeds everywhere, amonst all the vegetables, you can pull it out easily if you don't want it and the bees love it. But there are plenty of other plants bees love. Salvia's are also quite good, they are also very drought tolerant. Hyssop is also good. Red clover etc. Do a google on bee attracting plants. Im sure you will find some information. "Perri Campbell" wrote in message ... Just notice in the last few weeks that there are no bees in the garden. I thought maybe its to hot for them at the moment (Perth), but today was milder and not one bee insight. Can anyone enlighten me? pez |
Bees
Just as water is left out for birds, bees need it too. But they have
to soak it up. Fabric leading out of a bird bath, or a wettex floating in it is ideal. Give it a try and see if it attracts any back. Cheers Linda "Perri Campbell" wrote: Just notice in the last few weeks that there are no bees in the garden. I thought maybe its to hot for them at the moment (Perth), but today was milder and not one bee insight. Can anyone enlighten me? pez |
Bees
g'day perri,
if not having bees could be impacting on your gardens production then maybe you could consider buying your own hive of aussie native bees, they are stingless so are great where kids are concerned, and they are good pollinators. len On Tue, 20 Jan 2004 23:07:36 +0800, "Perri Campbell" snipped -- happy gardening 'it works for me it could work for you,' "in the end ya' gotta do what ya' gotta do" but consider others and the environment http://home.dnet.aunz.com/gardnlen/ |
Bees
g'day perri,
if not having bees could be impacting on your gardens production then maybe you could consider buying your own hive of aussie native bees, they are stingless so are great where kids are concerned, and they are good pollinators. len On Tue, 20 Jan 2004 23:07:36 +0800, "Perri Campbell" snipped -- happy gardening 'it works for me it could work for you,' "in the end ya' gotta do what ya' gotta do" but consider others and the environment http://home.dnet.aunz.com/gardnlen/ |
Bees
g'day perri,
if not having bees could be impacting on your gardens production then maybe you could consider buying your own hive of aussie native bees, they are stingless so are great where kids are concerned, and they are good pollinators. len On Tue, 20 Jan 2004 23:07:36 +0800, "Perri Campbell" snipped -- happy gardening 'it works for me it could work for you,' "in the end ya' gotta do what ya' gotta do" but consider others and the environment http://home.dnet.aunz.com/gardnlen/ |
Bees
g'day perri,
if not having bees could be impacting on your gardens production then maybe you could consider buying your own hive of aussie native bees, they are stingless so are great where kids are concerned, and they are good pollinators. len On Tue, 20 Jan 2004 23:07:36 +0800, "Perri Campbell" snipped -- happy gardening 'it works for me it could work for you,' "in the end ya' gotta do what ya' gotta do" but consider others and the environment http://home.dnet.aunz.com/gardnlen/ |
Bees
g'day perri,
if not having bees could be impacting on your gardens production then maybe you could consider buying your own hive of aussie native bees, they are stingless so are great where kids are concerned, and they are good pollinators. len On Tue, 20 Jan 2004 23:07:36 +0800, "Perri Campbell" snipped -- happy gardening 'it works for me it could work for you,' "in the end ya' gotta do what ya' gotta do" but consider others and the environment http://home.dnet.aunz.com/gardnlen/ |
Bees
len gardener wrote in
: g'day perri, if not having bees could be impacting on your gardens production then maybe you could consider buying your own hive of aussie native bees, they are stingless so are great where kids are concerned, and they are good pollinators. len I have considered that getting native bees would be a great idea for me in the future also. Having far, far too many of the horrible european honey bees in my garden at the moment is a bit of a concern though - I understand these loathsome creatures are quite willing and able to destroy the native queen and take over the hive. Unfortunately I can't recall exactly where I got this information so its veracity is open to challenge. So, the questions I have a 1) Is it possible/likely that the feral imports will take over ? 2) If so, are there any protective measures that can be taken to assist our poor, under-appreciated, under-utilised and poorly armed native friends ? TIA. Ivan. |
Bees
len gardener wrote in
: g'day perri, if not having bees could be impacting on your gardens production then maybe you could consider buying your own hive of aussie native bees, they are stingless so are great where kids are concerned, and they are good pollinators. len I have considered that getting native bees would be a great idea for me in the future also. Having far, far too many of the horrible european honey bees in my garden at the moment is a bit of a concern though - I understand these loathsome creatures are quite willing and able to destroy the native queen and take over the hive. Unfortunately I can't recall exactly where I got this information so its veracity is open to challenge. So, the questions I have a 1) Is it possible/likely that the feral imports will take over ? 2) If so, are there any protective measures that can be taken to assist our poor, under-appreciated, under-utilised and poorly armed native friends ? TIA. Ivan. |
Bees
g'day ivan,
not saying it couldn't happen but it never posed as a problem with me when i was in the 'burbs and still doesn't pose a problem out here in rural where i have had bee keepers put their hives on my land so their bees could make honey. if it looked like happening i would simply make the entrance hole to the native bee hive smaller as the native bees are wee tiny things comared to the honey bee giant, my bees generally have the best part of their entrance blocked off anyway, dunno why they just do it. i would say delay no longer get yourself a hive, and start enjoying our little friends and if/when you move they are very easy to transport. if you wish to learn more about them there is a couple native bee sites online i have a link to the qld bee keeper who exports them to japan. he is very knowledgeable feel free to ask all the questions and he will answer them. generally it is not best to have 2 hives too close together 500mtr seperation or lots of trees between is the answer, they will fight each other from seperate hives. but for us they are very docile never have a i seen them riled up. i also have wild native hives around but there has been no problems regarding mine conflicting. len snipped -- happy gardening 'it works for me it could work for you,' "in the end ya' gotta do what ya' gotta do" but consider others and the environment http://home.dnet.aunz.com/gardnlen/ |
Bees
len gardener wrote in
: g'day ivan, SNIP i would say delay no longer get yourself a hive, and start enjoying our little friends and if/when you move they are very easy to transport. if you wish to learn more about them there is a couple native bee sites online i have a link to the qld bee keeper who exports them to japan. he is very knowledgeable feel free to ask all the questions and he will answer them. SNIP Thanks Len - I appreciate the helpful and quick reply :) Whatever URL's you have will be appreciated. Feel free to email me privately with them if you think it is not sufficiently on topic :) Last question, do you have any knowledge of people in WA who sell native bees ? A quick search on Google revealed absolutely nothing :( Thanks again. Ivan. |
Bees
len gardener wrote in
: g'day ivan, SNIP i would say delay no longer get yourself a hive, and start enjoying our little friends and if/when you move they are very easy to transport. if you wish to learn more about them there is a couple native bee sites online i have a link to the qld bee keeper who exports them to japan. he is very knowledgeable feel free to ask all the questions and he will answer them. SNIP Thanks Len - I appreciate the helpful and quick reply :) Whatever URL's you have will be appreciated. Feel free to email me privately with them if you think it is not sufficiently on topic :) Last question, do you have any knowledge of people in WA who sell native bees ? A quick search on Google revealed absolutely nothing :( Thanks again. Ivan. |
Bees
g'day ivan,
don't know about wa here is the qld link he can arrange to have them sent to you if you so wish: http://www.uq.net.au/~zzrzabel/ or this site may be able to help i think they are in nsw?? not su http://www.zeta.org.au/~anbrc/ keep us informed len On 23 Jan 2004 12:00:14 +1100, Ivan McDonagh snipped -- happy gardening 'it works for me it could work for you,' "in the end ya' gotta do what ya' gotta do" but consider others and the environment http://home.dnet.aunz.com/gardnlen/ |
Bees
Ivan McDonagh writes:
Having far, far too many of the horrible european honey bees in my garden at the moment is a bit of a concern though - I understand these loathsome creatures are quite willing and able to destroy the native queen and take over the hive. Unfortunately I can't recall exactly where I got this information so its veracity is open to challenge. I doubt it. The blue arsed bee (don't know it's proper name) nests in our brick wall. European honey bees use things like tree hollows (and compete for space and food with possums). Strangely, there is a push among some horticulturists for the introduction of the European bumblebee even though the native blue arsed bee is a much more effective pollinator. -- Take my first and surname to email me and replace the abuse. |
Bees
Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish writes:
I doubt it. The blue arsed bee (don't know it's proper name) nests in our brick wall. European honey bees use things like tree hollows (and compete for space and food with possums). While the mortar bee (I'm not sure that I'm correct with the name) is a native bee, it is a solitary bee, and not what people usually mean when speaking of the native honey bee. The latter is a tiny insect that lives in a colony of thousands, and most people would mistake it for a small fly. In size it is something like that of a hover fly. Strangely, there is a push among some horticulturists for the introduction of the European bumblebee even though the native blue arsed bee is a much more effective pollinator. I have heard Tasmanian farmers say that a big advantage of the Euro bumble bee is that it continues to work even in dull showery weather, weather that sees the introduced honeybee down tools. I haven't noticed whether the blue-and-black-striped bee is an all-weather worker, have you? Also, have you got more than just one or two of them nesting in your mortar? Question to Len: do the native honey bees continue flying on dull, showery days? -- John Savage (news address invalid; keep news replies in newsgroup) |
Bees
John,
The small native bees like it warmer. In winter, they basically shut down, their entrance is gummed up with propolis / tree sap & stuff and they reopen once the weather warms up again. They do open up if you have a warm spell in the cooler months too. The thing is with these bees they are subsistence only so there is no practical or real harvesting of their honey. Even if you tried, the structure of their nests do not lend themselves to easy access. They just lump together the comb in sacs in no real given order so there may be honey, pollen and brood all in the same area like a fruitcake really - in contrast to the euro bees which have a bit more order. There is a tree just up the street from me with a colony of the natives, they face north and are doing really well. I stop and show my kids the activity whan we walk to / from school. Great little bugs. My Dad also has a hive, they have been there for 25 or more years in a log rescued from a boiler fire wood heap. Jock "John Savage" wrote in message om... | Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish writes: | I doubt it. The blue arsed bee (don't know it's proper name) nests in | our brick wall. European honey bees use things like tree hollows (and | compete for space and food with possums). | | While the mortar bee (I'm not sure that I'm correct with the name) is a | native bee, it is a solitary bee, and not what people usually mean when | speaking of the native honey bee. The latter is a tiny insect that lives | in a colony of thousands, and most people would mistake it for a small fly. | In size it is something like that of a hover fly. | | Strangely, there is a push among some horticulturists for the | introduction of the European bumblebee even though the native blue | arsed bee is a much more effective pollinator. | | I have heard Tasmanian farmers say that a big advantage of the Euro bumble | bee is that it continues to work even in dull showery weather, weather | that sees the introduced honeybee down tools. I haven't noticed whether | the blue-and-black-striped bee is an all-weather worker, have you? Also, | have you got more than just one or two of them nesting in your mortar? | | Question to Len: do the native honey bees continue flying on dull, showery | days? | -- | John Savage (news address invalid; keep news replies in newsgroup) | |
Bees
"Jock" writes:
The small native bees like it warmer. In winter, they basically shut down, their entrance is gummed up with propolis / tree sap & stuff and they reopen once the weather warms up again. They do open up if you have a warm spell in the cooler months too. The thing is with these bees they are subsistence only so there is no practical or real harvesting of their honey. Even if you tried, the structure of their nests do not lend themselves to easy access. They just lump together the comb in sacs in no real given order so Thanks for that info, Jock. It sounds like native bees' dislike of cold weather is the reason that many of our native plants have come to rely on bats or birds to carry out their pollination. A big advantage of keeping native bees would seem to be that not only are they stingless, but they would go unnoticed in the city---whereas keeping a hive of European bees would be an invitation to trouble from neighbours unless you had a cliff edge location or the penthouse suite in some high rise. I've seen a health food shop with a hive of bees kept indoors for public exhibition; the bees entered the building via a tiny hole and crawled through a transparent plastic pipe fixed to the wall to reach their hive. | I have heard Tasmanian farmers say that a big advantage of the Euro bumble | bee is that it continues to work even in dull showery weather, weather | that sees the introduced honeybee down tools. I haven't noticed whether | the blue-and-black-striped bee is an all-weather worker, have you? Also, | have you got more than just one or two of them nesting in your mortar? The antics of the Euro bumble bee are captivating. -- John Savage (news address invalid; keep news replies in newsgroup) |
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