Very exciting! Our native stingless bees arrived today via courier. I ordered them from Tim Heard of Sugarbag in Queensland. I thought I would have to wait several months, but it was only a few weeks before they arrived via courier.
I’d already picked out a place for them, on the side fence beside the house. This gives the hive morning sun (useful in winter), and keeps it out of the strong afternoon sun (vital in summer). Over the weekend, I constructed a small platform for the hive to sit on (with some help).
Then it was just a mater of putting up the hive, and removing the plug from the front entrance, and the one from the ventilation hole at the back. Immediately they fly out to scope out the neighbourhood, and to find their bearings.
So why bees? The native stingless bees are much smaller than European bees, and as the name suggests, don’t sting. This is a good thing. The main reason for having them is to improve pollination rates for my vege patch, and for the fruit trees planned for later.
They’re not going to produce much, if any honey. If they do, that’s a bonus. I just like the idea of them flying around, tending to our plants and bringing a little bit of the bush into Lewisham …
Fire Mountain Permaculture 
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