Thanks Stefan, I love those little bees.
The people who tell me “yeah but they don’t produce much honey” just don’t get it.
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If we had them native here, that’s what I’d be keeping instead of the honey bee. I saw them on Gardening Australia some time ago, and really intrigued me ever since.
As consolation, I have a couple of insect hotels.
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I think honey bees are just as intriguing. I think it’s the challenges of keeping honey bees that draws me to them as well as the honey & study of them.
Honey bees can use their body mass as well as large powerful wings in comparison to regulate hive temperature. These little bees don’t have that advantage, so to insulate, they use layers of wax as in my photos in order to keep the brood at an optimum temp.
They use fresh comb for every generation of bee. The bees build wax cells, the queen lays an egg in each one before the bees supply the correct amount of food before sealing them over. Then after the brood spins a cocoon, the bees remove the wax which explains the difference in color & appearance between old & new brood. This is why I don’t feel the need to give the splits much honey/pollen, the brood is all fed. Plus the fact that I split in the morning with a dry 7 day weather outlook during the spring. The foraging bees are bringing lots of fresh stores into the hives while I’m sitting here typing.
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Fascinating stuff Jeff, thanks for sharing
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