Bee Friends Bondi

The discovery of a horned native bee that pollinates a rare plant highlights how little we know about Australian pollinators.

👉 Read the full story: https://theconversation.com/i-discovered-a-new-australian-native-bee-but-there-are-still-hundreds-we-need-to-identify-267008

Japanese honey bees slap ants with their wings: Japanese honey bees have a unique way of defending their hives from ants. Instead of blowing them away with wind pressure like other honey bees, they use a wing-slapping technique where they directly hit the ants with their wings. Using high-speed video recordings, researchers observed that guard bees tilt their bodies, rotate, and flap their wings to strike ants. The study tested the effectiveness of wing-slapping on various ant species. The technique was most effective against smaller ant species, achieving a success rate of up to 50%. The technique, however, was less effective against the larger, faster wood ants. This behavior may pose risks if Japanese honey bees encounter invasive predatory ants like big-headed ants. Ants are drawn to bee hives because they are rich food sources, containing honey, bee larvae, and even worker bees, all of which provide energy and nutrients for ant colonies.

https://newatlas.com/health-wellbeing/stingless-bee-honey-trehalulose-health-benefits/

Unique sugar in stingless bee honey good for teeth, weight and blood sugar Honey from stingless bees contains large amounts of a unique sugar that’s not a major component of any other food, according to researchers. It has a range of health benefits, from preventing tooth decay and helping with weight loss to managing type 2 diabetes.

we are at Bondi Farmers market today. Come on down for some local honey from the eastern suburbs. 🐝 🍯 ❤️

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-06-14/benefits-native-bees-why-you-should-have-to-your-garden/103968060

How to attract native bees to your garden and why you should Whether you're interested in the sweet benefits of backyard beekeeping or making your home more appealing to solitary species of native bees, what can you do to attract them to your garden?

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-01-10/spotters-guide-australian-flies-species-pests-and-good-deeds/103158802?utm_source=abc_news_web&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_campaign=abc_news_web

Summer is here and flies are everywhere, but what's the buzz on the good and the bad? You may want every fly to buzz off this summer, but according to a nature writer, some deserve an invitation because the overwhelming majority of more than 30,000 species in Australia are too busy doing good deeds to have an interest in your barbecue.

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/DCVdyKnMDSGhT3Am/?mibextid=VuxXZ0

Something to learn from the USA's mistakes

Where has all the honey gone? Scientists point to factors in declining yields Research has found that several factors have hampered bees’ ability to create honey over the past decade

Chelsea flower show garden inspires additions to pollinator-friendly plant list Scientists monitored the Royal Entomological Society’s garden and listed its most bug-friendly plants

Biologists discover bees are the brew masters of the insect world Scientists at the University of California, Irvine have made a remarkable discovery about cellophane bees—their microbiomes are some of the most fermentative known from the insect world. These bees, which are named for their use of cellophane-like materials to line their subterranean nests, are kn...