Beekeeping in the city

 

 

Native Australian bees

 

We keep native bees at the ASC. We have a hive of Tetragonula carbonaria, a mainly Queensland and northern NSW based bee, which survives in Sydney but not much further south than Bega.

 

This type of native bee is stingless; so it’s appropriate for schools, home yards, nursing homes and public spaces.

 

Trigona bees are tiny between 3-5mm and they only come out when it’s 18 degrees or warmer. That means they need to store plenty of food for the winter, and we can’t rob their hives of too much honey if they’re to survive through the cold months.

 

Practically, that means we may only get a harvest of 1 kilo of honey a year, if it’s a good year. This year, with all the rain through summer, the hive was not heavy enough with honey so we did not harvest any.

 

That’s the reality of owning native bees.

 

The hive is a shoebox shape and the type of hive we have is very easy to harvest honey. Not all hives are made this way, so beware when you buy one. If you’re only using bees for their pollination services – not harvesting honey – then the hive type won’t be as important to you.

 

You need very little training to have a native hive, almost no maintenance and the bees feed themselves. You don’t need a licence or permission.

 

Regarding placement of hives the Sugarbag site recommends: “Positioning your hive is important. They should be kept in a sheltered position. Generally, if you would be comfortable in a position all year round, then the bees probably would be too. A verandah is usually good as they are protected from the elements and you can watch them more easily. They must be protected from direct afternoon sun. They don’t need much space, even a small apartment verandah is sufficient. If you want to put them out in the open, you will need to provide a roof. I can supply a simple but effective roof for $10.”

 

Most people get hives when other hives are split. Splitting hives is a process of taking half a hive and building a second hive with that. Ours came from Chippendale, and the Chippendale’s mother hive came from Tim Heard in Queensland. Tim’s website will tell you much of what you’d like to know about these fascinating bees

 

For common FAQs on these bees see Aussie Bee.

 

Cost is about $400–550 to buy a hive, but there are no costs after that.

 

Before you get a hive the main thing I'd recommend is that you have plenty of flowering natives, that flower all year round within a 500 metre radius, and if not then I'd recommend you seriously think about what you can do to help vegetate your local surroundings. You don’t want to get a native hive then have it fail in the first year due to not enough pollen or nectar.

 

To contact our native beekeeper in Sydney email Gavin Smith.

 

Exotic beekeeping

 

Keeping exotic bees in the city is a much more involved than native beekeeping.

 

The up-side is you’ll get a lot more honey and other beautiful honey products. A well-managed backyard hive can produce 60 kg honey.

 

When you make your own honey you can sieve it more coarsely than commercial honey and so leave the pollen in it. You probably won’t be mixing other honeys, so you’ll still be able to taste the flowers and plants the pollen has been derived from.

 

Ingesting small amounts of local pollen can help hayfever sufferers. Also, if it isn’t heat-treated you’ll keep more of the nutritional benefits.

 

As this is an introductory course we recommend people go on to more intensive courses like Tim Malfroy’s Warre beekeeping, done through Milkwood or other courses via the Amateur Beekeepers’ Association.

 

Initial costs to set up a hive can be high: $600 or more. If you go on to keep bees you will require special clothing and equipment, a smoker, protective gear, hive and related paraphernalia and insurance. For the amateur beekeeper, a warm spot and gravity can help you extract 80 per cent of the honey.

 

You’ll also need to team up with other beekeepers: a new Sydney collective is on the cards (keep in touch with The Urban Beehive for more info) and there’s always the Amateur Beekeepers’ Association.

 

Australia is the last bastion against the dreaded varroa mite, currently decimating hives across the world. It’s one issue beekeepers will have to deal with as more and more ships and imports come to Australia. Colony Collapse Disorder has lead to massive losses of bee populations in other countries.

 

Some people only have minor but painful reactions to stings. Others must be rushed to hospital and a sting can prove fatal. So precautions are a must. (Note there won’t be any stinging bees on site at the workshop, not unless they’re already visiting our garden!) Nearly as many people die in Australia from bee stings as from snake bites. If you know you have bad allergies to bee stings it’s probably not advisable to become an urban beekeeper, unless you stick to the native bees!