Some members of Upper Kedumba Bushcare group had a lovely morning attending a workshop with the fantastic Megan Halcroft of Bees Business www.beesbusiness.com.au hosted by the Blackheath Rhododendron Garden for their 50th Anniversary.

The Upper Kedumba Group site is the centre for the Upper Mountains Bee metropolis, we have mud homes for ground dwelling bees, hotels of hardwood and reed for our cavity dwellers, a good selection of Pollinator plants, plans for expansion and a keen interest in Native Bees, so this was a great opportunity to expand our Bee Knowledge and learn we did!!

Some of the super interesting things we learnt.. we will share now with our greater Bushcare Buddies 🙂

So …. The buzz is …..

Bees see on the ultra violet light spectrum and have short or long tongues and pollinate flowers relevant to their tongue design.

Petals have cone cells on them specifically for bees to hang on to

The best time to see bees is early morning or late afternoon because …Bees build up a positive charge as they fly..and a flower has a negative charge

So the bees and flowers are attracted to each other … But when the bee pollinates the flower (takes nectar and pollen) the charges are neutralised..So the next bee knows not to go to that flower and waste it’s energy!! The charge, nectar and pollen build up again throughout the day.. hence the afternoon sessions !! ..KOOL…

Habitat should be increased every year for your native bee population, So if you have 1 bee hotel..Now you need 2 … 🙂 and lots of little homes in full sun are better than one big home.

So there you go, just a couple of neat facts !! .. One last fact ….

Bushcare will be holding a combined event with Wildplant Rescue for Pollinator week in November this year 🙂 So you will be able to come along make a bee hotel and buy some plants specifically for your new bee friends 🙂 … BEE great to see you there …