How to ID a Bee

Australia has over 1,800 different species of native bee!

How many have you seen?

Sugarbag Bee/Native Stingless Bee

These little black bees take the sting out of making honey!

Our only native 'honey bee' lives in hives with their colony. Their beautiful spiral propolis is very eye-catching but sometimes ends up in places it shouldn't!

While they don't produce much honey, the colour and consistency can dramatically change depending on the flowers they pollinate.

Honey Bee/Apis

There are many species of Apis/honey bees but in Australia we have 2 common ones; the European Honey Bee and the Asian Honey Bee.

As their names suggest, they are both introduced and invasive. While different species, the honey bees have the same distinctive yellow and black striped abdomen.

While they perform necessary pollination, they disrupt the natural ecology and can outcompete native bees.

With the proper care, these bees don't harm our environment, however, they have the potential to cause damage when left to become 'feral'.

Blue Banded Bee

These fast bees are very important to the environment as they perform buzz pollination. Plants like tomatoes and eggplants rely on this type of pollination to produce the fruit and veggies we eat.

Blue banded bees are solitary bees, often burrowing into clay or soil to build nests.

You can often see them darting from flower to flower in the garden!