Meet Australia's native stingless bee, learn how to split their hive in two and how to extract the honey.
Subscribe: [ Ссылка ]



Jerry Coleby-Williams is a keen amateur bee keeper, with 10 hives of stingless native bees in his garden in Brisbane. He used to have traditional honey bees, but after losing two lots to various problems decided to stick with native bees, which produce a lot less honey but are hardier for Jerry up in Queensland.

His friend and entomologist Dr Tim Heard has come to help him divide the hive and collect some honey. You can tell if the hive is ready by its weight. In this case, the hive weighs 8.2kg, and so subtracting the weight of the empty box they know that there is about 3kg there.

The hive box itself has three levels. To separate the brood, they divide the sections. This bee is Tetragonula carbonaria, which produces flat sheets of comb. The bottom of the box is given a new top and middle, and the top and middle sections of the old hive are given a new bottom. These new hives are vulnerable to pests and should be held together with strapping or rope until the bees can join them back together with their propolis, which is a mix of beeswax and resin that bees use like glue.

With Tetragonula hockingsi the top section of the hive is removed. This is called the honey ‘super’. You can only harvest honey in warm climates, as further south in cooler areas the bees need the honey to survive the winter. To remove the honey, it’s strained through a sieve. The sieve is then rinsed so that any bees stuck there are cleaned off and, once dry, they return to their hive. The honey is quite runny and watery but has a strong flavour with a real bite to it.


Please note:

Stingless bees are tropical / subtropical insects. It is best not to disturb them in winter especially south of Brisbane. Split hives and extract honey in warm weather. They need all their honey to survive winter in cooler climates. Only harvest honey if you live in a frost free area north of Sydney and only from September until March.


See the latest content from Gardening Australia as it goes live by hitting subscribe: [ Ссылка ]
Watch Gardening Australia on ABC iview: [ Ссылка ]



About Gardening Australia:
Gardening Australia is an ABC TV program providing gardening know-how and inspiration. Presented by Australia's leading horticultural experts, Gardening Australia is a valuable resource to all gardeners through the television program, the magazine, books, DVDs and extensive online content.

Connect with other Gardening Australia fans:
Like Gardening Australia on Facebook: [ Ссылка ]
Follow Gardening Australia on Instagram: [ Ссылка ]
Visit the Gardening Australia website: [ Ссылка ]

This is an official Australian Broadcasting Corporation YouTube channel.
********
Contributions may be removed if they violate ABC's Online Conditions of Use [ Ссылка ] (Section 3).

свернуть