The common bee that most cherish in their gardens is a foreigner – and the The Woodend Bee Friendly Society plans to do something about it.
“We value it, we accept it, we profit enormously by getting the honey it produces and we benefit from its billion-dollar contribution to crop pollination. But it doesn’t belong here!” said Newham beekeeper Jim Sansom.
“Introduced into Australia in 1822, Apis mellifera is now endemic and regarded as part of the landscape. But what nobody knows is the damage the honeybee has caused by its presence in Australia during the past 200 years.”
Mr Sansom said every spring, honeybee colonies divided to create two colonies. The bees that leave the old hive have to find a new place to live and suitable sites are scarce.
“The honeybee in particular can be a bit aggressive in setting up a new home. Tree hollows, wall cavities, chimneys, nesting boxes and compost bins are all possibilities.”
He said the problem was that throughout the bush and in urban areas, tree hollows were prime targets especially in old eucalypt trees. Bees often out-compete native birds and small marsupials.
“Nobody knows the extent to which the honeybee has had a damaging effect on our natural environment. This is especially so in regions like the Macedon Ranges that still have considerable forested land,” Mr Sansom said.
Managed bee hives in the care of apiarists are not the problem. Like any other skilled profession managing livestock, beekeepers have strategies to reduce the propensity of honeybee swarms escaping into the wild.
Mr Sansom said the environmental problem was mainly from feral colonies already in the bush and from backyard beekeepers inexperienced in managing the spring swarming phenomenon.
The Woodend Bee Friendly Society is about to embark on a groundbreaking study in the spring of 2023 to gather data.
“Members want to know the extent to which honeybee swarms are still impacting the natural environment with a view to possible future strategies to address the problem,” Mr Sansom said.
He said society members also wanted to develop management skills to enable members to capture swarms before they escaped.
“Since feral colonies of honeybees can harbour disease, the data obtained has the potential to help to control outbreaks,” Mr Sansom said.
Woodend Men’s Shed has begun making more than 100 bait boxes for the swarm monitoring project.
Woodend Bee Friendly Society action group leader, Sam Rixon, said using the bait boxes to catch swarms had never been done before in Australia.
“It’s innovative and groundbreaking, and particularly important given the recent varroa mite incursion,” she said.
“It’s really important from a biosecurity perspective to try to capture any feral swarms that are out in the environment to monitor them for pests and diseases, but also to free up the hollows in trees that would ordinarily be taken up by things like possums or micro bats.
The success of the project will depend on how widespread the bait boxes can be deployed in the Macedon Ranges region.
If you would like to participate in this research project and be an observer, call 0427 290 012 or email tino.coresetti@gmail.com for further details.
