Hi All ,
We can all help bees by planting bee friendly plants . If you provide seed , send it to your friends in your bee club .Grow seedlings , give them away as xmas presents ,encourage your local landcare groups to plant bee friendly plants . Local Councils , state and federal initiatives need community support . Give them some .
Set an example yourself . Encourage farmers to be bee keepers or at least let you keep bees on there properties . Communication and awareness are powerful tools . Imagin if the beekeepers of this world each planted 10 x trees and 100 annual flowers each year . There would be literally millions of flowers and then keep doing it .
Lets all have an annual Bee Festival , celebrate the flowers and bees together with an annual planting picnic as part of the rituals .Let everyone participate , - enjoy life ,may the power of the flowers be with you , Cheers David from Victoria Australia .
Over here in Britain there have been several attempts in the last 5 years, where companies Co-Op and now Green Peace - there may be others - at the Royal shows where there are bees (unfortunately the one by us is no longer A Royal Show), where they have been giving away packets of Bee friendly seeds.
When I hear them advertise this I try to get a packet. Recently I have been to my garden centre to buy specific plants to fill the “June Gap” and if your a gardener like me we often swap plant cuttings among ourselves.
You are right this is a good thing to do at the bee clubs.
Smarty alec!! I didn’t realise you owned the woodland - I just assumed you got permission.
I’m Jealous Now!!
We are in suburbia but when we move house … there might be a long wait … been discussing this for 4 years already… it may be more rural.
We are not far from woods and country, down the road and in most directions we have wooded areas so I’m banking on plenty of forage
Ditto. But it is a really good idea, especially for those of us who enjoy gardening. And, research seems to show that urban bees do better than many rural bees because of the variety planted in gardens. Always room for improvement.
so did i , 57 acres , but rainfall only 300mm per year . I am constructing swales and building manure and mulch , i can not wait to see the results as an AL-NINYO is forming , i hope to make a difference before the drought . Cactus , mallee bush and water hardy plants will be the go I will just see how the finances go . The idea of the farm , down in south-east gippsland , Rainfall1200mm py , is to drought proof an idea as best i can . i am also constructing bee houses to protect hives from wind ,rain and extreme heat , quite a "menlo park " .
so i have two farm locations , one i own ,one i am setting up in partnership with the owner . I also have an urban / backyard on a small town fringe . My back yard backs onto 1000acres of dairy farm , so if i was a smart arse before , then i must be a bloody genius now / happy rural house hunting 1 .and i will not even mention the other 5 x farms that want my bees .
I encourage neighbors to grow a wide variety of native wildflowers, trees, and bushes. Some think buying hybrid roses will do the trick but those type of roses do nothing for bees. You have wonderful ideas David 
Education is the key.
There was a fantastic BBC series a couple of years ago called Bees, Butterflies and Blooms. It followed Sarah Raven’s (Gardener & TV Presenter) quest to re-introduce bee and insect loving plants into englands cities and countryside. If you get a chance to view it, I thoughly recommend it for garden ideas.
Yo roddo,
where are you based . I had replies from England , South Africa , and US of A . What a connected world we now live in , and bugger me it is near instant and affordable .
We should strengthen or investigate a series of festivals where we can all meet that already exist. This internet thing suremes us aware that we are not alone with our thoughts .Amazing what technology and a new invention can bring together .
Gday David, I am living in the north of Sydney just 10mins north of the Harbour Bridge. Have a few hives in backyard, would love to have a country patch just not logistically possible at the moment.
I’m helping the bees by doing live bee nest removals and safely relocating them to farmland/bushland WITHOUT replacing the queen - I want to keep their genetics - survivor bees - even the aggressive colonies…
Cheers,
The Bunyip Beekeeper
To Bee or not to Bee ,
Well done , if we all do a bit ,then the collective effort is massive . Reverse the death of a thousand cuts with birth of a thousand initiatives.
Hive in yard helps neighbors with their fruit trees and flowers which only brings more when they see how well things are going. Honey well give them a bottle of raw and they will join the to help.
Gooday beehave 2 ,
pleased for you to join our posts and share your initiatives .On Thursday I successively gorilla planted one manuka and one leptospermum rotundafolium ( another tea-tree ) with promise of ever higher anti- pacterial properties !-( watch this space ) .
I put a wire mesh guard 600mm high to give them a chance against the roos and wombats that are thick in the area . I find a handful of fertiliser and some seaweed concentrate gives them a good start . Then on Friday I planted 6 x leptospermums on another friends farm . You know these small efforts may seem trivial compared to the millions of flowers required by each hive to survive , however it is the philosophy I like .These trees if successful will more importantly provide a seed bank and should compete well in there new locations . You know a funny observation occurred when I showed the city/pretend farmer the seedlings to plant ,his comment was " we have that shit all over the place and can’t kill it . We burn,plough and poison it and it keeps on coming " That bloody manuka stuff . Well I sampled his "Manuka " only to find 4 x different species of tea tree in four square metres at one thicket . Not one was Manuka (leptospermum Scoriporium ) but in fact totally different species of which I knew not one of them . This shows that not a lot is known even by this farmer about what he thought were ferrel weeds . Aand I have so much to learn about the other 74 species of leptospermums . He may even have un - classified species yet to be named and still further away from scientifically evaluated !!!
I keep plugging away putting plants in wherever I can in both small and large areas .
Chow for now
Captain Midnight
David you might find these interesting?..
https://rirdc.infoservices.com.au/items/09-153
above research Tas based but Leptospermum specific.
Perhaps some Corymbia maculata & Eucalyptus paniculata (in ref to below)
https://rirdc.infoservices.com.au/items/07-138
and finally _Flowering Ecology of Honey-Producing Flora in South-East Australia
https://rirdc.infoservices.com.au/items/08-098
These guys are useful too, as it’s not always possible to maintain provenance of endemic species, simply unavailable to plant out or quantities insufficient, however better than entirely exotic …
I might find these interesting ,
thanks Kirsten , how is your gorilla planting going ? the links will be enjoyed by me soon -keep up the faith , cheers
The CaptainHey what a great outlook David. How are your bees going? You’ll be pleased with my efforts to get a beeautiful bee friendly garden going. I haven’t finished yet, lots more to create. Our fruit orchards well on its way, and I’d like to grow some nut trees too. All in good time. Now to learn something about bees. I have lots of bees visiting but I’d like to provide a hive to enhance my pollination and honey would be a bonus. Where are your hives, we’re in Central Victoria.
Hi Robyn,
I am based in Southeast Gippsland but have some bees on a little block near Benalla. If you got in touch with a local bee club near you, they would be a good start to you getting bees. I would suggest you start with new equipment and get a swarm in the springtime. This will probably cost you very little as most clubs are keen to start new beeks off and if you end up with a tasty Behavior from your bees, you can change that by buying a new gentle natured excellent genetics Queen and a club mentor will help you through the stages.
Alternatively, you can buy a nucleus hive swarm for about $ 90.00.
You can buy a double hive full of bees for about $450.00-550.00 but get new boxes and bases and lids. Lots to learn and as you are on the computer i recommend you buy the beginners Bible called Bee-skills ag produced by Tocal ag college in NSW. tHERE ARE PLENTY OF OTHER BOOKS ON THE MARKET but this college is the Australian Authority in my opinion.
You can study up on this over winter and get your basics from the local supplier or direct mail on the internet, like "Becs Bees ".
Courses can be expensive but most clubs have field days and guest speaker nights that beginners are well catered for.
I am currently helping a new Beekeeping association to start in Victoria and we have a convention on sat week in Essendon the 14th. We have 300 delegates booked already from all over Victoria and we are excited to bring in international speakers as well as experts from around Australia. A big stretch at short notice for you to come down this year but we plan to run it annually with this our second annual event. We hope to record all the lecturers and produce a DVD. bUT NOT DEFINITE YET.
happy 
vrba.org.au/convention . should give you an overview as the speakers are all listed.
The Victorian Beekeeping Association have an association membership you are welcome to join that will give you many benefits. look us up and happy Beekeeping in the future. I am glad your bees will have such a caring home like yours -we can all do our bit, well done .,
Cheers David
Oh wow!! I didn’t expect such a prompt n comprehensive reply. That’s awesome thank you. I’ve been looking up local bee keeping groups and there’s a couple to follow up with. I hope they’re as helpful as you David. Thank you again for your kindness. Not sure I’ll see you this year but next year maybe a good date to diary. That’d be great.
Cheers Robyn