STINGLESS BEES ARE PUTTING THE BITE ON PLANTS AND HELPING THE SUNSHINE COAST ECOSYSTEM, THANKS TO TWO GEMLIFE OVER-50S LIFESTYLE RESORT RESIDENTS WHO HAVE A PASSION FOR AUSTRALIAN NATIVE BEES AND HELPING THE ENVIRONMENT.
Bernie Creighton, of GemLife Pacific Paradise and Sid Stone, of GemLife Maroochy Quays, are strangers to each other, but both share a common interest in keeping the tiny, black flylike Australian native bees in their back gardens.
“Stingless bees are great to have around the garden as they are fabulous pollinators of our plants and flowers including Australia’s beautiful wildflowers, gums, bottlebrushes, strawberries, avocados, watermelons, macadamias and mangoes, plus so much more. Without them almost none of our edible crops would be
pollinated, leaving no seeds for future plants,“ said Bernie, who has been keeping bees for a decade.
“When we lived at North Lakes, before moving here to the resort, we had dragon fruits and passion fruit vines and it seemed like common sense to get some bees to pollinate or fertilise them for us. We’ve continued to benefit from them here at the resort.”
Sid, affectionately known as the `bee man’, became a beekeeper two years ago and now has about 4000 stingless native bees in his two backyard hives at GemLife Maroochy Quays. They have become somewhat of an attraction for neighbours who were relieved to hear the tiny bees concentrate more on gathering pollen than having anything to do with the human population.
“There is no venom in their bite, and the Tetragonula Carbonaria native bees that I have are not aggressive. They can bite but there is no sting so all you might feel is a slight pinch and no repercussions,” said Sid. Although bees are known for making honey, the native species owned by Bernie and Sid are not big makers of the sweet treat.
“There are about 1600 varieties of native bees and the species we keep make honey to store up as food to last them through the winter months because when it is colder than about 13 degrees celsius, they don’t like to come out of their hives and need the honey to survive,” Sid explained.
Both Sid and Bernie have found their bees are not prolific honey producers, with four to five jars the most either could expect to collect from their hives in a year.
“The honey has a high pollen content and has a tangy taste to it, but it’s delicious on ice cream or when used in baking,” said Sid.
There are so many reasons to keep bees including propagation, placing them in orchards for farmers, or keeping them commercially for their honey. But our two resident beekeepers agree that for them, it is all about helping the environment and the pure enjoyment of working with bees.
The bees, which usually venture between 300 and 500 metres from their hives, are also fascinating to watch with both Bernie and Sid often mesmerised when observing the bees come and go.
“Bees give you a real buzz and they do so much for nature. I’d love to see more people
getting their own hives. They can make their own or buy them from other beekeepers.
Either way, they are a fabulous investment in our future,” said Sid.
No doubt, our resident beekeepers will be celebrating their sweet obsession with bees
on World Honey Bee Day on Saturday, 20 August.