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Australian Native Bees Why are bees under threat? • Urbanisation removes bees’ natural habitat • Urbanisation increases “flowerless landscapes” • Pesticides contaminate bees’ food sources How can we help improve the health of our bees? • Conserve existing bee habitat • Provide habitat for bees • Plant bee friendly flowers • Reduce or stop pesticide use in your garden How can we learn more? • Contact Bee Business on megan@ beesbusiness.com.au or visit their Facebook page www.facebook.com/BeesBusiness • Make habitats to observe bees in your garden • Observe your garden flowers for bee activity To find out more please visit these websites • www.beesbusiness.com.au • www.aussiebee.com.au • www.australiannativebees.com Designer: Brittany Hardiman | Photographs: Bees Business Special thanks to Dr Michael Batley, Australian Museum Copyright © 2014 Acknowledgement: Schools Engagement and the Office of Sustainability, University of Western Sydney. Disclaimer: Bees Business and the University of Western Sydney are not responsible for, and expressly disclaim all liability for, damages of any kind arising from the use, reference to or reliance upon information contained in this brochure. Australian Native Bees Learn more, up close About native bees Australia is home to 1,600 native bee species, with around 200 of them found in the Greater Western Sydney (GWS) region. Most native bees are solitary bees, meaning they complete their life cycle alone, unlike the introduced social Honey Bee. Solitary native bees do not produce honey or live in large hives; although there are a few social native bees that store pollen and make honey to survive over winter. Native bees come in a range of colours and are sized from 2 to 24 mm. Some have thick furry hairs while others are smooth and shiny. Why are bees important? We need pollinators, like bees, to help us grow our food and flowers. Of the 352,000 flowering plants and crops nearly 90% rely on pollinators for reproduction. Australian native bees are able to pollinate many fruits and vegetables, including tomatoes, watermelon, passion fruits, strawberries and mangoes. Sadly our bee populations are decreasing. As we clear land for urban develop, remove plants and use pesticides we are causing our bee populations to be under threat of extinction. By understanding more about our native and exotic bees we can help conserve their populations, thus supporting ecosystem biodiversity and also food security. All about Bees Bee Anatomy Bee bodies are comprised of a head, thorax and abdomen. They have six legs and two pairs of wings. They have two antennae used to touch and “smell”, mandibles or jaws used for biting, working pollen or wax and two compound eyes and three simple eyes. Pollen collection Both social and solitary bees collect pollen to feed their young. Female solitary bees carry pollen in their scopa; a collection of branched, bristled hairs which may be on the under belly (abdominal scopa) or on the lower, hind legs (tibial scopa). Image from Marc Newman Example of a cottage garden. Image from Elizabeth Richmond Attracting bees to your garden The best way to attract bees to your garden is to have large patches of flowers. Many bees, especially Blue Banded and Teddy Bear, are attracted to blue and purple flowers. The greater variety of flower you can provide, the greater diversity of bee you will attract. Plants that are known to attract bees include: • Native flowering plants like lambertia and grevillia • Native flowering shrubs like water gum, wattle, bottle brush, tea tree, westringia and native peas • Exotic herbs like parsley, coriander, celery, fennel (any of the Apiaceae family) • Lavender, rosemary, salvia, hyssop (any of the Lamiaceae family) • Exotic flowering plants like buddleja, agapanthus, hebe and daisies Make sure you plant a variety of different species so that there are flowers available all year round. Examples of man-made solitary bee nests Making habitats for bees As we clear land to build houses or shopping centres, we remove natural bee habitat. We can however provide additional nesting habitats that are similar to their natural ones. Different bees like different habitats. Resin and Leaf-cutter Bees will nest in drilled hardwood. Masked and Reed Bees nest in bundles of lantana and bamboo. Blue Banded Bees can also be encouraged into rammed earth nests. When setting up your solitary bee nests place it somewhere you can watch the activity safely. Your nest should be set up out of the way and somewhere protected against the weather. Once you have your nest in place, never pick it up. When you are watching your bees DO NOT stand in the flight-path of exiting and entering bees, instead you should stand to the side of the nest. These bees CAN sting so be careful. Summary

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Page 1: Australian Native Bees - vsgp.org.au€¦ · It is becoming more apparent that our native bees play an important part in pollinating native and exotic plant species. African Carder

Au

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Why are bees under threat?• Urbanisationremovesbees’naturalhabitat• Urbanisationincreases“flowerless

landscapes”• Pesticidescontaminatebees’foodsources

How can we help improve the health of our bees?• Conserveexistingbeehabitat• Providehabitatforbees• Plantbeefriendlyflowers• Reduceorstoppesticideuseinyour

garden

How can we learn more?• ContactBeeBusinessonmegan@

beesbusiness.com.auorvisittheirFacebookpage www.facebook.com/BeesBusiness

• Makehabitatstoobservebeesinyourgarden

• Observeyourgardenflowersforbeeactivity

To find out more please visit these websites• www.beesbusiness.com.au• www.aussiebee.com.au• www.australiannativebees.com

Designer: Brittany Hardiman | Photographs: Bees BusinessSpecial thanks to Dr Michael Batley, Australian Museum

Copyright©2014

Acknowledgement:SchoolsEngagementandtheOfficeofSustainability,UniversityofWesternSydney.

Disclaimer:BeesBusinessandtheUniversityofWesternSydneyarenotresponsiblefor,andexpresslydisclaimallliabilityfor,damagesofanykindarisingfromtheuse,referencetoorrelianceuponinformationcontainedinthisbrochure.

Australian

Native Bees

Learn more, up close

About native bees Australiaishometo1,600nativebeespecies,witharound200ofthemfoundintheGreaterWesternSydney(GWS)region.Mostnativebeesaresolitarybees,meaningtheycompletetheirlifecyclealone,unliketheintroducedsocialHoneyBee.Solitarynativebeesdonotproducehoneyorliveinlargehives;althoughthereareafewsocialnativebeesthatstorepollenandmakehoneytosurviveoverwinter.Nativebeescomeinarangeofcoloursandaresizedfrom2to24mm.Somehavethickfurryhairswhileothersaresmoothandshiny.

Why are bees important?Weneedpollinators,likebees,tohelpusgrowourfoodandflowers.Ofthe352,000floweringplantsandcropsnearly90%relyonpollinatorsforreproduction.Australiannativebeesareabletopollinatemanyfruitsandvegetables,includingtomatoes,watermelon,passionfruits,strawberriesandmangoes.Sadlyourbeepopulationsaredecreasing.Asweclearlandforurbandevelop,removeplantsandusepesticideswearecausingourbeepopulationstobeunderthreatofextinction.

Byunderstandingmoreaboutournativeandexoticbeeswecanhelpconservetheirpopulations,thussupportingecosystembiodiversityandalsofoodsecurity.

All about Bees

Bee AnatomyBeebodiesarecomprisedofahead,thoraxandabdomen.Theyhavesixlegsandtwopairsofwings.Theyhavetwoantennaeusedtotouchand“smell”,mandiblesorjawsusedforbiting,workingpollenorwaxandtwocompoundeyesandthreesimpleeyes.

Pollen collectionBothsocialandsolitarybeescollectpollentofeedtheiryoung.Femalesolitarybeescarrypollenintheirscopa;acollectionofbranched,bristledhairswhichmaybeontheunderbelly(abdominalscopa)oronthelower,hindlegs(tibialscopa).

ImagefromMarcNewman

Exampleofacottagegarden.ImagefromElizabethRichmond

Attracting bees to your gardenThebestwaytoattractbeestoyourgardenistohavelargepatchesofflowers.Manybees,especiallyBlueBandedandTeddyBear,areattractedtoblueandpurpleflowers.

Thegreatervarietyoffloweryoucanprovide,thegreaterdiversityofbeeyouwillattract.Plantsthatareknowntoattractbeesinclude:

• Nativefloweringplantslikelambertiaandgrevillia

• Nativefloweringshrubslikewatergum,wattle,bottlebrush,teatree,westringiaandnativepeas

• Exoticherbslikeparsley,coriander,celery,fennel(anyoftheApiaceaefamily)

• Lavender,rosemary,salvia,hyssop(anyoftheLamiaceaefamily)

• Exoticfloweringplantslikebuddleja,agapanthus,hebeanddaisies

Makesureyouplantavarietyofdifferentspeciessothatthereareflowersavailableallyearround.

Examplesofman-madesolitarybeenests

Making habitats for bees Asweclearlandtobuildhousesorshoppingcentres,weremovenaturalbeehabitat.Wecanhoweverprovideadditionalnestinghabitatsthataresimilartotheirnaturalones.Differentbeeslikedifferenthabitats.ResinandLeaf-cutterBeeswillnestindrilledhardwood.MaskedandReedBeesnestinbundlesoflantanaandbamboo.BlueBandedBeescanalsobeencouragedintorammedearthnests.

Whensettingupyoursolitarybeenestsplaceitsomewhereyoucanwatchtheactivitysafely.Yournestshouldbesetupoutofthewayandsomewhereprotectedagainsttheweather.Onceyouhaveyournestinplace,neverpickitup.WhenyouarewatchingyourbeesDONOTstandintheflight-pathofexitingandenteringbees,insteadyoushouldstandtothesideofthenest.ThesebeesCANstingsobecareful.

Summary

Page 2: Australian Native Bees - vsgp.org.au€¦ · It is becoming more apparent that our native bees play an important part in pollinating native and exotic plant species. African Carder

Other Native & Exotic BeesResin Bees Reed Bees Masked Bees Leaf-cutter Bees Blue Banded & Teddy Bear Bees

Common Name:BlackResinBee

Size: Approximately1-1.3centimetresinlength

Features: Alarge,strongmandible(jaw)usedtocollectplantresinstobuildtheirnests.

Species in GWS:Megachile punctata, Megachile aurifrons and Megachile deanii.

Nesting habitat: Oldborerholes(madebyinsects)intreetrucks.

Man-made nestinghabitat: Resinbeeswillnestindrilledhardwoodblocks.

ImagefromMarcNewman

Megachile punctata

Megachile aurifrons

Common Name:ReedBee

Size: Approximately0.3-0.8centimetresinlength

Features: Ashinyblackheadandthoraxwithadistinctivechestnut-coloured,wedge-shapedabdomen.FemalesoftenhaveaT-shaped,yellowmarkonthefaceandatibialscopa.

Species in GWS: Exoneura sp.

Nesting habitat: Stemsofwoodyweedlantana,coraltree(Erythrinasp.),grasstreespikes(Xanthorrhoea),treefernfrondsandotherhollowstemmedplants.

Man-made nestinghabitat: ReedbeeswillnestinsmallholesdrilledintodriedLantanastems.

Exoneura sp.

Exoneura sp.

Amphylaeus morosus

Hylaeus nubilosus

Common Name:MaskedBee

Size: Approximately0.4-1.2centimetresinlength

Features: Sparselyhairedwithdarkheadsandbrightlycolouredfacialmarkings,somehavebrightlymarkedbodies.

Species in GWS: Amphylaeus morosusandHylaeus nubilosus.

Nesting habitat: Stemsoftristania,acaciaandgrasstreespikes(Xanthorrhoea).

Man-made nestinghabitat: Maskedbeeswillnestinbamboocanesandsmallholesdrilledinhardwood.

Common Name:Leaf-cutterBee

Size: Approximately1.2centimetresinlength

Features: Alarge,strongmandible(jaw)usedtocutdiscsofsoftplantleavestoformatubeularnest.HalfthemalesoftheMegachilespecieshaveexpandedforelegswhichareflattenedandoftenhavelong,sleekhairsusedinpartofthebees’matingritual.

Nesting habitat: Nestsareconstructedinsmallcavitiesunderbarkorinrockcrevices.

Man-made nestinghabitat: Leaf-cutterbeeswillnestinlargebamboocanes.

Megachile serricauda

Megachile maculariformis

ImagefromMarcNewman

Common Name:BlueBandedBee

Size: Approximately1.5centimetresinlength

Features: Bluestripesonabdomen.Thefemalehasdarkfacialmarkingsandtibialscopa.

Common Name:TeddyBearBee

Size: Approximately1.5centimetresinlength

Features: Coveredinorange-brownhairs.Thefemalehasdarkfacialmarkingsandtibialscopa.

Amegilla pulchra

Amegilla bombiformis

Nesting habitat: Groundburrows.

Man-made nestinghabitat: BoththeBlueBandedandTeddyBearbeescanbeencouragedtonestinartificial,rammed-earthnests.

Australian Native Stingless Bees

Thenativestinglessbee(Tetragonula carbonaria) istheonlysocialnativebeefoundintheGWSregion.Coloniesnestinlargetreecavitieswheretheystorepollenandhoney.Theseblackbeescanbeseenhoveringnearnectar-producingflowersofalltypes.

European Honey Bee

Honeybees(Apis mellifera)areanintroducedbeespecies.Theyareextremelyimportantforfoodproduction,pollinatingoflargescalecrops.Itisbecomingmoreapparentthatournativebeesplayanimportantpartinpollinatingnativeandexoticplantspecies.

African Carder Bee

TheCarderbee(Afranthidium repetitum)isanintroducedbeespeciesandarewellestablishedintheGWSregion.Carderbeeshavedistinctivebright,whitebandsontheabdomen.Thesebeesaresomewhatterritorialandcanbeseenchasingotherbeesawayfromtheflowerstheyareforagingon.

Tetragonula carbonaria foragingbesideEuropeanhoneybees


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