Of bees, hotels and permaculture gardening

Where would gardeners be without bees? Probably down on our knees with little horse-hair brushes, or busy planting species that attract hoverflies and other pollinators. But many plants are selective about which insect species they’ll share pollen with, and who has time to hand-pollinate an entire garden these days?

Sometimes you just need bees.

Most of us, when we think of bees, think of the introduced European honeybee Apis mellifera, but Australia is also home to around 1500 species of native bees. Some, like the stingless bee Tetragonula carbonaria, form hives and produce honey, but most Australian bees are solitary and nest either in the ground or in small gaps and hollows in timber and stone. All bees are pollinators, although some are able to pollinate a wider variety of plant species than others; some species, like the native blue banded bee (Amegilla cingulata) I spotted up at the gardens earlier this year, are particularly valuable pollinators for food crops, and are a boon to gardeners and farmers alike.

So how can we attract more of these oh-so-helpful solitary bees into our gardens? By building them a hotel of course.

Upcoming Workshop - Making Bee Hotels

Join us up at the gardens on August 1st to make your very own bee hotels to take home (1 per household) - and one for the Narrandera Food Garden!

Places are limited, so please RSVP to a committee member, either by phone or via Facebook. Places are 'per household' so that could be one person, a couple, or a family group, so feel free to come by yourself or bring your partner and kids (or grandma!) along. However, having dogs underfoot could be dangerous, so no pets please.

$15 per 'household', all materials will be provided, and you will get to take your bee hotel home at the end of the day.

We encourage everyone to bring along a picnic lunch, and to stay as long as you like after finishing your hotel.

If anyone would like to sign up to become a garden member on the day, there will be forms available for you to do so.

Keep an eye on this blog for more information about bee hotels in the near future.

We look forward to seeing you there!