I shrieked with delight!
It was a Cordyceps*, a fungus that parasitises caterpillars.

While many animals eat various types of fungi, in this case the relationship is reversed, with the fungi preying on an insect.

Maybe they don’t look fascinating to you. Or perhaps you think it looks like something from witchcraft or science fiction?

What we could see of these fungi is only part of the story. I was introduced to this fungi by Alison Pouliot and I’ve been delighted whenever I have come across them ever since.

Alison has been visiting our area each autumn for many years, conducting fungi forays and promoting awareness of this incredible kingdom. This year, her workshops switched to online delivery, but Alison is still sharing her knowledge and inspiring attendees to learn and look.

If you haven’t attended one of Alison’s workshops (often hosted by local Landcare groups, including Wooragee Landcare) put it in your calendar for next autumn.

How can a fungus ‘catch’ a caterpillar?

The Cordyceps spores are tiny and it’s thought caterpillars ingest them while moving through the leaf litter. The spores germinate inside a caterpillar and, as Alison explains, “The resulting mycelium feeds on the caterpillar and completely fills its body cavity, effectively consuming it from inside out, killing it in the process and transforming it into a mummy.”

Having extracted the nutrients from the caterpillar, the fungus waits for the right conditions to put up a reproductive structure (stroma, sometimes referred to as the ‘fruiting body’ or club) above ground from which it releases its spores. And the cycle begins again.

Alison’s specimens show how the long white fungal tissue the extends into the soil and entirely around the mummified caterpillar.

We spotted more of these clubbed fungi as we continued our meander.

Some were fresh while others were past their prime. They varied in height from around 4 cm to 8 cm and in colour from olive to black. The top of the club has tiny dots (ostioles) which is where the white spores emerge from. Apparently, the colour of the stem near the ground is determined by the species of caterpillar. The more ‘food’ the fungi obtains from the caterpillar, the larger the club. Sometimes, if the caterpillar is particularly nutritious, there can be two clubs from a single source.

The ones we saw on this visit (top photo) are the species Drechmeria gunnii. Their common name is dark vegetable caterpillar.
* It was formerly Cordyceps gunnii and collectively the broader group are still often referred to as Cordyceps.

Features contributing to their identification include shape, colour, and the smooth transition between the ‘stem’ and ‘head’ parts of the club. Other similar species can also be found in this National Park. The identification was confirmed by Tom May from the FungiMap project via iNaturalist.

The caterpillars the fungi preys upon

On a field trip during Alison’s workshops with Wooragee Landcare last year, we came across a stunning pink Oxycanus moth. It was on a rotting log, beneath wattles in private bushland not far from the fungi sightings mentioned above.

This moth belongs to the family Hepialidae, known as swift and ghost moths. Its caterpillars are among those the fungi preys upon, along with others from this family.

The moths in this family are typically short-lived as adults. Some spend just one night in their adult form. They often emerge en masse after rain in autumn. They mate, the females lay oodles of eggs and by the morning the moths are breakfast for birds!

The caterpillars dig burrows in the ground and line them with silk. At night they come out to feed on leaves and leaf litter. Assuming they haven’t been parasitised by fungi, they pupate in their burrow and as the adults emerge they often leave their empty pupal case half sticking out of the burrow or on the ground nearby.

I’m sure you’ve seen some. They are frequently found under eucalypts and acacias in autumn or early winter. Along with the vegetable caterpillar fungi, we also spotted plenty of these cases in the same area.

A FungiMap target species

This species (and several other ‘club fungi’) are on the list of target species for the FungiMap project. Their aim is to collect records of a wide range of fungi types across Australia. You can add your sightings by sharing photos and observational notes to the project via iNaturalist.

I have and hope you will too!

Fungi finds

We found fungi bursting out of the soil, popping up along dead wood and nestled between tufts of moss. We meandered, scouting the landscape.

Their locations and size meant we were frequently bent over, kneeling, or sometimes sprawled on the ground to admire and photograph our finds. (While trying not to squash anything else in the process.)

Spotting fungi and being able to identify fungi are two separate skills

Alison Pouliot’s fungi workshops highlight the importance of using all our senses to correctly identify fungi. It’s not only how a specimen looks, but how it feels, smells, its spore print, the sound the stipe (stem) as it breaks, and yes, even the taste or sensation in the mouth (advanced players only, please)!

As we were in the national park, we didn’t remove or damage any of the fungi but instead photographed as many details as we could. The underside of fungi can reveal telling details that assist with identification. We noted the substrate the fungi was on. A ruler and mirror help record the details for later when adding the photos online or checking identification.

By sharing these nature observations on iNaturalist they will add to the collective data on fungi as well as enable us to have our identification confirmed (or improved) by others.

As with other nature watching, you get better at fungi-spotting with practice. You generally won’t see what you’re not looking for.

Like elusive orchids, you can struggle to see one fungus in a forest, yet on stopping to admire that one you’ll likely find more, and more, and maybe even then find some in spots you already looked.

Just as with other species, you can increase your odds of finding fun fungi by knowing the conditions, locations and microclimates they prefer. But mostly, you just need to look!

Fungi weren’t the only finds of this visit

We also spied various autumn flowering orchids, the delicate flowers of a New Holland daisy, and spectacular shoots of regrowth following a recent burn in the area.

We enjoyed listening to the sounds of the forest (sorry birders, no details for you). We marvelled at the tell-tale holes and scratches of an echidna (or two?), the busyness and engineering works of various ant species and breathed the mild fresh air, with its hints of wet leaves and damp soil.

Oh, and as I use my GPS for adding the location to my photos, I have some extra data. For the competitive (Strava) types, prepare to be horrified.

My GPS reports we spent one and a half hours in the park on this visit. My tracklog totalled less than 1.5 kms walked, thus we averaged under 1 km an hour. We spent more than half the time not moving (photography!) and we were never more than 100 metres, in a direct line, from our starting point.

While we clearly didn’t tick the cardiovascular exercise box with this visit, there were plenty of other wins.

We had a lovely catch up. Yes, we talked exponentially faster than we walked. We found more nature delights than can be included in a single blog post, so stay tuned for another installment. We made records to share with biodiversity databases and we stretched our grey matter as we attempted to recall species names, natural histories and past seasons.

I highly recommend slowly exploring of a pocket of nature. You never know what you might find.

You may have seen him, or others from this genus, featured on social media and even the news. Male peacock spiders have multiple claims to fame including their striking colours, their courtship displays and, perhaps less commonly noted, as a terrific example of the contributions amateur naturalists can make to scientific knowledge.

Spotting these spiders is a challenge. I was lamenting with another local field naturalist the day before this sighting that although we both keep an eye out (and see many jumping spiders), neither of us had spotted a male Maratus. Then this!

And they aren’t very big. This one, which falls on the larger end of the peacock spider size scale, is about 5 mm in length … and jumps … so not the easiest critter to photograph. That said, many people have captured inspiring shots, so seek those out if you’re keen to view more.

Who’s a pretty boy then?

These male spiders’ colours are all about gaining the attention of female spiders, just as the ‘peacock’ in their common name suggests. As part of their courtship efforts, males lift their patterned abdomen into the air and wave their extra-long third legs! Different species have different colour and pattern combinations. Some species even have bonus ‘fan’ or other effects, while some have been observed using their display to try to warn off rival males.

Think I better dance now!

What’s more, the males have a display routine, which we might call a dance, and many of their moves would make Michael Jackson proud.

Unfortunately, I didn’t capture any display behaviour during my brief encounter with this one, but if you’re ready to be wowed by the colours and ‘dance moves’ of peacock spiders, click through some of the links below.

Current knowledge of Australian peacock spiders is a terrific example of the contributions of ‘citizen scientists’. Until the 1980s just two species of Aussie Maratus were named and described. Since then it has been on the rise, thanks in part to amateur naturalists, particularly in the last ten years, and now more than 70 are known. And it’s thought there will be more to come.

Likely these spiders are quite common, but as with many other things in nature, firstly you need to get out there (even it’s your garden or an urban space) and secondly you need to be open to seeing them. Although you might think such showy patterns would be easy to spot, it’s also easy to overlook things (particularly at this scale, and if other species are the ones you’re intending to look for!). I’m excited that this appears to be the first record on the Atlas of Living Australia of a Maratus spider on the Nail Can Hill range, however there are existing Maratus records elsewhere in our region.

But wait, is this a female?

Not long after spotting the delightful male, I saw another small jumping spider nearby.

Female Maratus spiders don’t sport the males’ fancy colours and are instead typically browns and greys. (As are juvenile males). This makes them tricky to identify or distinguish from other Maratus species and from jumping spiders more generally.

I added iNaturalist posts for both the male and this second spider nearby and was delighted to have both their identities confirmed! Thanks as well to Duncan Fraser on Twitter who coincidentally shared photos of the same species this week and generously responded to my beginner spider-ID-ing questions.

I can’t wait to see more!

Further reading and watching

• Maratus – the movie! An endearing and inspiring 30 minute documentary about Stuart Harris and Jurgen Otto’s efforts to name and describe a Maratus spider spotted in Canberra. Available on iview: https://iview.abc.net.au/show/maratus

• Dr Jurgen Otto and David Hill publish a handy, recently updated, overview of male peacock spiders (with photos).

• For some incredible videos of the spiders and their display routines visit Jurgen’s YouTube channel or his informative website (plus there are many other peacock spider photos and videos on the internet!).

• Providing a local angle, check out some great local photos of peacock spiders taken by Jodie Kuhne in and around the Chiltern Mt Pilot National Park.

• Have you seen a peacock spider and taken some photos? Join iNaturalist and submit your record to the Australian peacock spider project to contribute your observations, and/or watch other naturalists add theirs!

Early in the day it had just its head and one foot exposed, eyes often closed, basking in the autumn sun.

As the day progressed the monitor moved further out of the hollow, much to the delight of the students below. I wonder what it thought of all our activities!

The lace monitor was just one of many highlights of the day. And personally, I'm already planning more visits to Galore Hill. As the saying goes, I didn't know what I've been missing!

Where was this?

Galore Hill rises 215 metres above the surrounding plains, just north of Lockhart, NSW (about 1.5 hours drive from Albury). The 576 hectare Galore Hill Recreation Reserve is crown land that has been managed by Lockhart Shire since 1968. The shire and various local community groups have implemented a wide range of works over the decades, including extensive plantings and facilities for visitors.

With the students, we drove to the top of the hill and took a stroll to admire the views. From the lookout tower you can turn to take in all 360 degrees of views, including across to the Rock and along the Murrumbidgee river plains.

Junior Landcare with school students

The activities of the day were held at the picnic area at the base of the hill which boasts playground, toilets, tables, shelter and BBQ (and bonus hollow-dwelling lace monitor!). Here the students from the attending schools rotated through multiple activities including reptile info and handling, Indigenous botanical art, bush treasure hunt and habitat exploration. The students enjoyed the various hands-on activities and the presenters also had a terrific time!

Flora

Within the site there are extensive plantings of native trees and shrubs, many planted in the 1970's. Species lists compiled over the years by various working groups and visitors (field naturalists, students and others) outline more than 800 flora species. There are extensive eucalypt, grevillea and acacia plantings, all of which are Australian, but many are from elsewhere around the country. An impressive 200 different plants are thought to be the only ones of their variety growing in Lockhart Shire. The 19 species of orchids on the lists also caught my eye!

Insects

Although honey bee hives are not permitted in the reserve, we saw plenty of these bees attending flowers. It's likely unmanaged bees live there and possibly some were visiting from hives or wild colonies beyond the reserve.

Much to my delight we also spotted some Hylaeus native bees, some large flower wasps and a few beetles on the flowers. There were also many pupal cases of autumn rain moths, that had evidently been busy emerging in recent nights.

Consider a visit

If you fancy a visit to Galore Hill (and I think you should), you can read up before you set out via the excellent brochure from Lockhart Shire. The reserve has good signage (with some of the same historical and nature notes) and the roads and facilities were in terrific shape for our visit.

If you need any further incentive, other attractions include caves that bushranger 'Mad Dog' Morgan is said to have used and a number of walking tracks. For those with nature observation interests, over 140 birds have been recorded visiting the reserve, and no doubt those seeking reptiles, mammals or invertebrates (for example) will also be well catered for. Riverina Local Land Services (LLS) recently coordinated a new biodiversity study for the site, so I'll be keen to check that out as well, once it's available to the public.

Thanks to everyone involved in organising and participating in this terrific day - the schools, Lockhart Shire, Eastern Riverina Landcare Group, Riverina LLS and, particularly, Petaurus Education Group for inviting me.

I look forward to more exploring at this special spot.

Instead, M. ferox bees roosted on a Dianella flax lily by our letterbox! We have had other native bees, and other insects, use this spot for overnight stays in the past. But we’d not had the spring series of visits by M. ferox here before.

You may recall my excitement at the first of these bees I saw in October 2013 (see here or jump straight to the video). Well, that’s pretty much what they do each night during their season! Even after watching them over these years, their antics (and simply their presence!) never fail to amaze me.

Here’s a video of some of their typical antics, from this spring:

Video: some of the resin bee antics. 

The bees usually begin to fly around the site an hour or so before sunset. Some land near, or on, their preferred stems. Yes, they not only have a preferred plant to roost on, they seem to favour certain stems over others! As other bees approach, they will grip the stem with their mouthparts (mandibles), put all six of their legs in the air, and wave them like crazy. Presumably it’s to signal ‘this is my spot, buzz off’. (The same response is triggered by camera lenses getting too close and human hands trying to point the bees out to others).

Once they are no longer defending their spot (and sometimes between contentions), they will often groom. They use their legs to clean their antennae and body; perhaps gleaning pollen grains acquired on flowers?  Or maybe it’s dirt. Anyway, this grooming seems a consistent part of their routine – maybe like us brushing our teeth before bed?

You also often see their abdominal segments move in and out. I understand this to be a sort of bee ‘cool down’, in readiness for rest. As the evening light fades and the temperature drops, the bees cease their actions, and become motionless on the stems, where they spend the night. Once this stage is achieved (and it varies with the weather and light), they generally don’t respond to anything, even if quite close to their bodies. Although they can’t close their eyes (no eyelids!), and there is some contention as to whether they sleep or not, they are certainly resting and less easily roused than during the day.

In the morning, their evening routine is repeated in reverse: a bit of a warm-up, then grooming, maybe some movement, and finally, departure. It can be hours between the first signs of activity and all the bees leaving, to spend the day chasing females and foraging on flowers.

It looks somewhat amusing when one bee stretching or grooming seemingly kicks another bee, triggering yet another round of leg waving! If the weather is poor (wet or cool), they will conserve energy and stay put on their roost, sometimes all day.

The bees by the letterbox this spring included the most individuals (of this species) that I’ve seen on a single night – 17! The M. ferox bees I’ve watched in previous years have typically been only up to half a dozen or so bees, over a period of six to ten weeks. This year there were 42 nights with one or more M. ferox roosting (and six nights with none – including after they were rudely knocked off their stems by hail!).  Granted, it’s a far cry from the tens or hundreds that some species of native bees have been seen to aggregate in. Mind you, it wouldn’t be hard to be oblivious to their presence, either.

Here’s a snapshot of my observations each spring:

I’m just as excited about watching these bees as I was the very first time I saw them.  You can be sure I’ll be watching out again next spring. I hope they will return!

An internet search revealed that little is known about these beetles' life and habits. According to a review in 2013, the Rhipicera genus contains just five species, two of which are likely to occur in our area. I think 'ours' may be Rhipicera reichei, but R. femorata is quite similar, so I'm looking to confirm that.

It's thought the males' elaborate antennae are used to detect the scent of female beetles. The females might release a pheromone when they are ready to mate. A 2015 study found male Rhipicera femorata antennae to be covered in a particular type of receptor, called the sensillum placeodeum, which researchers think are used to detect scent associated with the female beetles. By way of comparison, the elaborate male antennae were found to have approximately 30,000 such receptors per antenna, where the female antennae had just 100 each! It is also suggested Rhipicera beetles may be parasitic on cicada nymphs.

What's more, there aren't all that many sightings (for any of the Rhipicera) on the Atlas of Living Australia, and even fewer accounts of their behaviour in the papers I found. Ooh, now that sounds like an opportunity to investigate!

After a bit of watching, I've noted patterns in some of their behaviours. I think we're host to a mass emergence event of these beetles, which is pretty cool! I've observed both male and female beetles emerge from holes in the ground. They are typically most active for a couple of hours each day. That's around mid-morning until a bit into the afternoon. Generally it's the males seen flying in the air, all around the acacia trees, and a few nearby shrubs. Overall there have been quite a lot more males than females.

Despite their distinctive appearance, the beetles are only 15-25 mm long, and remarkably well camouflaged, especially on the acacia bark. I have only seen females take short flights. Mostly those flights have been into the trees the day they emerge from the ground. Once on the tree, the females are generally seen walking, not flying, to get around. (But there were exceptions, and it is tricky to tell whether they are male or female until they land).

The males flying around the trees are looking (sorry, antennae-aided-scent-guided-searching) for females with which to mate. Their 'radar' doesn't always seem all that well-tuned. Often males flew or walked quite close to females without stopping. Other times a male spent a long time in the vicinity of the female, but seemingly couldn't see her. Or perhaps she wasn't his type?

Here's a little video of some of the activity I've been watching.

Video: Stunning Rhipicera beetles in our backyard! Alternative link https://vimeo.com/262134600, in case you can't see it above. (Turn your sound on).

I expect that the sex lives of beetles is not something you are particularly keen to know about (how did I guess?). I'll just note that at least some females mate with more than one male.  Indeed, some females attracted a throng of males. After the busy flying (and mating) period, by early to mid afternoon, the beetles would take shelter and cease flying. I didn't see any re-enter the ground. The males, with their antennae overhead, remained easier to spot.

Beetles that settled on a plant overnight were generally still in the same place the following morning. But there were also quite a few 'beetle bodies' below the trees each morning; curiously, more females than males. Both the 'overnighters' above the ground and the 'new' beetles, emerging from the soil below, resumed their activities around the same time in the morning.  And I don't think I saw any of them eat anything. Perhaps they spend such a short amount of time in their adult form that they don't need to eat?

It's now ten days since we first saw these beetles and this episode seems pretty much over. There are few beetles to see and nothing like the activity of last week. Now to consolidate my notes and review the specimens I've collected (have found quite a few 'bodies' without needing to kill any). Indeed, I have seen these beetles before, I even collected one at Wonga Wetlands in 2016 for an entomology subject. Interestingly, the date of that sighting was the 20th of March - right about this time of year.

I wonder when I might see them again.

POSTSCRIPT: Dr Chris Reid at the Australian Museum kindly identified these as Rhipicera femorata.

Hopefully it's now easier to find the resources and specific content (videos, native bees, etc), in turn making it easier to share them or direct people to those. I'm also forewarning you that I will likely add some backdated posts. If you receive our news via email or other update services, you'll get notice of those as they go up.

Please use the site as you like! Maybe it's enough for you to know the content is here, should you want to refer to it. Alternatively, follow along (or keep following along) if you're keen to get notice of each and every post. And, of course, if none of this is your cup of tea you can opt out at any time! I know social media has taken the place of personal blogs and websites for many people. But for me, this is how I'm keen to play. (With a note that you can also find me on some of those platforms, too!).

Meanwhile, at our place (physically, not just online)

... it has also been 'same, same but different'! Here's a quick overview.

- I've been having a lot of fun spotting, noting and learning (more) about native bees, pollinator insects and nature in general ... and will share some of those experiences here. Similarly, my work has been varied, as ever. NB: My Mum can't keep up with which jobs I have at any particular point in time, so I don't expect anyone else to even try. Within the mix, I've been fortunate to be presenting quite a few talks and workshops, particularly on food growing and gardening, as well as native pollinator insects. 

- Ralph's shed is a triumph with even more features added and productivity within it going strong (I'd show you, but he might kill me and some folks might suffer shed envy, so I need a little time to think carefully first);

- The garden continues to grow, admittedly with an increasing focus on (or takeover by?) plants for bees/insects and habitat more broadly, and less produce than in the past. Ralph's grateful for a reprieve from gluts of eggplant and we're still in surplus much of the time. The garden is my research lab, refuge, thinking space and exercise all rolled into one, and I don't know where I'd be without it.

- Our single hive of backyard honey bees have had their challenges in recent years, but have been travelling well of late on their dedicated deck (with views to the Murray River and Huon Hill, no less) in their decorated boxes with Warre-style roof. This season has delivered a bonanza of flowering for the bees, so we're also well endowed with honey; thanks girls!

- Our little house on the hill is about to become a slightly bigger and rejigged house on the hill thanks to some renovations. We'll try to justify that with the notes that we both work mostly from home; that the lounge room-as-Karen's-office has worn a little thin (think no room for a couch let alone a dining table!); and the bonus of clever design and incorporation of reused materials by Ralph.

So there's the Claytons update! If you stick around (or pop back), I'll share with you those promised posts, including a bunch of photos and videos I hope you'll enjoy.

Cheers, Karen

A few photos to whet your appetite, in case that helps!

Blue-banded bee

Roosting on the Dianella by our letterbox overnight.

Another bee hotel added

Located on the east side of the house, this one comprises mostly timber, with some pithy stems (bamboo) and a couple of mud blocks.

New(ish) wicking beds on the nature strip

Honey bee hive on their deck

Leafcutter bee

A male, Megachile macularis, foraging on hyssop in the garden.

This week we've been incredibly fortunate to have renowned native bee enthusiast and researcher, Dr Michael Batley, join us for some of the activities locally to promote the Wild Pollinator Count. In a conversation with Michael I asked about blue banded bees and he agreed that he would expect our area to be home to just A. asserta. I quizzed him a bit about the features that are used to classify the different species, and to what extent the variations in the size, markings and color of the bees I watch might be simply diversity within that species, or whether perhaps there might be other species in our area.

You could put my enthusiasm to record additional species locally down to a wild imagination or my naivety, but it is something I've not been able to let go. Michael noted that just because other species haven't been recorded doesn't mean they aren't here. It got me thinking even more about what I've seen, and raring to check my photos for the features he'd mentioned.

Shortly after our conversation, while standing beside a geranium in the Albury Botanic Gardens, two blue-banded bees buzzed by the flowers. Michael noted that the first indeed looked like A. asserta. But the second bee caught our eyes. He swiftly scooped the bee into his net and transferred it to a plastic bag so we could take a better look. (This method allows insects to be caught, observed and released ... although Michael makes it look a whole lot easier than I suspect it actually is). Sure enough, after examination with a magnifying glass, Michael announced he was confident that the bee was not A. asserta!

While we don't yet know which Amegilla species it is for sure, it seems clear there IS more than one species of blue banded bee in our area! What a find! Just to clarify, this isn't a claim of a "brand new" species ... but a sighting of a species not previously recorded in our area. Which is still a very exciting outcome!

...

Fast forward 24 hours and the S2S BioBlitz and Wild Pollinator Count schools' day finds Michael Batley, Dr Manu Saunders and I out at the Wirraminna Environmental Education Centre, getting ready for another day of activities. We'd been talking native bees on the drive out (of course!).

Before we had even unpacked the car we took a quick look at the plants as you enter the grounds. I commented about some of the pollinators we'd seen on the blue bells (Wahlenbergia) and Dianella during another session there earlier in the week.

We saw some blue-banded bees on the Dianella and Michael calmly announced that he thought this bee looked to be Amegilla Notomegilla chlorocyanea. Out comes the net again, and the magnifying lens ... Yes!

It would appear that there are at least THREE species of blue-banded bee in our area!

Talk about a big week!!

I'm so grateful for the ongoing journey I've found myself on as an amateur naturalist and citizen scientist. I've been fortunate to meet and make connections with so many knowledgeable and generous people along the way - you may recall that Dr Ken Walker also visited our area a couple of years ago (and says he's still trying to recover from the gruelling schedule I created, sorry Ken).

I've also learnt heaps through social media and particularly the Bowerbird.org.au website for recording sightings, getting help with identification and seeing the multitude of wonders that others are also contributing.

And more recently, I've gained a friend and mentor in Manu Saunders, initially by being asked to collaborate to create the Wild Pollinator Count, but also I've enjoyed discussing our sightings, having her insights into academic research and going 'spotting' together. I feel obliged to warn you that Manu's twitter feed should come with a disclaimer about how much time you might need to keep up with the fascinating things she writes and shares!  

You never know what you might see - why not make the time to take a look? You too might be surprised how much you can learn from your observations and those of others. There are still a few days left in this round of the Wild Pollinator Count - if you've got ten minutes and one flowering plant nearby, you can join in.

And yes, this has only fuelled my enthusiasm for blue-banded bees, so stay tuned for more about them soon.

The song goes 'From little things big things grow ...' and gosh has our pollinator awareness project done some growing since the previous round.

This will be our third running of the Wild Pollinator Count and this time we've teamed up with the Slopes to Summit (S2S) partnership, which has enabled us to run some extra events locally and to produce new support materials.

We kick off today and would love you to join in!

As for previous counts, the idea is to watch a flowering plant for 10 minutes and report which pollinator insects you see. The goals are to raise awareness about pollinators as well as to record where they are being sighted. You don't need fancy gear nor to be an expert.

And you can participate from anywhere in Australia, anytime between the 15th and 22nd of November.

All the details are on the Wild Pollinator Count website (wildpollinatorcount.com) and to encourage you to click over there here are a few of the extra activities on offer locally: 

• Macro photography workshop at Burrumbuttock (Sun 15th Nov)
• Public counts and opportunity to learn about pollinator insects at the Albury Botanic Gardens (during the day, Wed 18th Nov)
• "It's amazing ... " Guest speaker Michael Batley from the Australian Museum on native bees and citizen science projects (7pm, Wed 18th Nov, Albury)
• S2S Bioblitz and Wild Pollinator Count schools' day (Thurs 19 Nov)
• Pollinator photo competition, with $1,000 in prizes up for grabs and it's not only about the "best" pollinator pics!

The full details for these can be found in our events listings.  

Plus we've created a glovebox guide to the common pollinators of our area, which can be accessed online. 

Plus there are also updated our resources for telling the difference between bees, flies and wasps; tips on how to run your own count event with other people; and you can download and print a tally sheet to keep track of what you see.

Whether you make it to any of the special events or not, we'd love you to find 10 mins on a sunny day during the week to add your observations about pollinator insects at your place!

For more information pop over to wildpollinatorcount.com and consider joining our email list to receive updates about the project. 

We're grateful to the Slopes to Summit partnership of the Great Eastern Ranges initiative with funding from the NSW Environmental Trust for their support that has enabled these events and resources.

How about witnessing their offspring emerge, an entire year after the nest was completed!

Yes, I was there to see it - and again I had the camera rolling, so you too can share the fun.

This is the same nest that featured in one of my previous videos. 

Video: Native bee emerging from a bee hotel. Runs 3 mins.

This nest was completed on 15 December 2013 and this bee emerged from it on 18 December 2014. 

Fortunately, I 'just happened' to be nearby as the bee prepared to emerge. I could hear it working inside the hole! It was a bit like hearing a chick 'pipping' or tapping before they hatch from their egg, I guess.

I've edited the footage (thought 3 minutes might be enough for most people). It took about 45 minutes from the time I noticed the first signs of action to the bee leaving the nest.

The emerging bee had to use her mandibles (mouth or jaw if you like) to break up the 'plug' that had protected the nest, before she could leave. 

I think it is a female as there's no sign of the modified forelegs the males of this species have.

Please forgive the shaky camera work ... just bear in mind the macro nature of the shot, and the extreme amateur status of the photographer.

Which bee will be first?

From my kitchen window I watched the first of the striking purple blooms of the Hardenbergia violacea (aka Purple Coral Pea, False Sarsparilla or 'Happy Wanderer') appear in mid-July, knowing that this plant is typically the first place native bees are seen after winter.

On August 11th a casual glance out the window as the kettle boiled revealed an insect zipping and darting around and between the flowers that looked different to the more sedate and predictable patterns of the usual visitors - honey bees. Quick! Grab the camera - it's the first native bee sighting of the season! I raced outside, camera in hand. I nearly skidded as I stopped in front of the flowers. But no, all I could see were honey bees. Oh dear Karen, now you're seeing native bees that aren't there? This really has got out of hand.

But wait, as I replaced the lens cap, there was a short dart between flowers. I leaned closer. There was a native bee! Sure enough, it was a "spring bee" as they are commonly known. One of the Trichocolletes species. I shot a few poor photographs before it headed off (that's one of them, above).

I noted the weather - the flowers were in patchy sunshine and the ambient temperature was 13 degrees. That's quite a way below the expected preferred minimum temperatures suggested for native bees to be out, of about 18 degrees. Interestingly, this sighting is also eight days earlier than my first sighting (of the same species, I think) last year. (You could also question whether I'm getting better at spotting them, or even looking for them, that is influencing this result, but I do tend to be looking from early August ... just in case!). 

And below is a another of these bees (a female?) taken later in the month when I'd had time to calm down, and there were more of these bees about.

Trichocolletes sp.

These bees are a little smaller than honey bees, with similar coloring, which can make them a bit tricky to spot. I tend to look for the darting flight pattern, and if they stop long enough on some flowers, you can notice their distinctive bands, scopa (hairs for collecting pollen) and body shape that all help to distinguish them.

After that, despite the mostly chilly weather, when the temperatures climbed even a little and the sun appeared, so too did these bees. And Trichocolletes weren't the only ones.

Tip off followed by next sighting

On the 15th of August, while returning from delivering a workshop in Corowa, I received an excited text from Manu, reporting that she'd seen Hylaeine bees emerging from geranium stems in her backyard.

Gee, I haven't seen any of them yet this year, I thought. (Along with, wow, what are the odds of seeing them emerge if you didn't know they had nested there!?).

I arrived home and took a quick look at the daisies on the front nature strip, and what should I see?

Hylaeine bee video (30 seconds) on Vimeo.

Species #2: Amphylaeus Agogenohylaeus obscuriceps

With their less hairy body and legs, and relatively slim stature, I'm sure these bees are frequently assumed to be wasps rather than bees. That was certainly my thought when I first saw them some years ago. Instead of carrying pollen on their bodies they have a crop, and carry itinternally instead. They swallow pollen and nectar, then regurgitate it once at the nest. 

A somewhat unexpected third species makes an appearance

August 23rd was the next milestone. Again it was a single bee that caught my eye. Again it was the front daisies that it was foraging on. Species number three joined the list.

#3: Lasioglossum Chilalictus lanarium

Wattle watching pays off

Our Snowy River wattle (Acacia boormanii) has yet again had a lovely display of blooms right through August. After seeing early bees on it last year, I had kept an eye on it, but had 'only' seen honey bees, flies, bugs and beetles to date. That changed on August 28th when I spied several native bees amongst the flowers.

#4: Lasioglossum Parasphecodes hilactum

These 'red bees', Lasioglossum species, made for four species spotted in August! I'm thrilled.

Postscript and assistance acknowledgement

I added each of these sightings to BowerBird.org.au (follow the links from the photos above to see the respective entries on that website). This was partly so the records might add to the range and distribution records for these species. But also to see if I was on the right track with my identification of these bees (for me, even getting to the right family can be a challenge - anything beyond that is a bonus. Being able to seek advice via BowerBird is invaluable - and I love that it means you don't need to be an expert to contribute your observations). Fortunately for the most part I did ok. And for the one I mucked up, Dr Ken Walker kindly provided a detailed explanation about the ID, which I much appreciate and hope I can put into practice next time.

How did winter finish up (according to the calendar at least) in your neighbourhood? Any nature observations to share? Had a go at looking for native bees at your place yet this season?

The video below features a stunning chequered cuckoo bee, Thyreus caeruleopunctatus, visiting some Purple top flowers (Verbena bonariensis - a weed, and a popular flower for pollinators). 

Autumn cuckoo bee video (43 seconds).

As you might know, female cuckoo bees don't build their own nests. Instead, they tend to hang out around the nests of blue-banded bees, and will sneak into a blue-banded's nest while the female is out and lay an egg into the brood cell. When the blue banded bee returns she seals the cell. Next, the cuckoo bee egg hatches and the larva eats all the nectar or pollen the blue banded bee provisioned the nest with. They then spin a cocoon and pupate. Meanwhile, when the blue-banded bee larva emerges there's nothing left to eat, so it dies.

This parasitic behaviour takes the shine off this stunning bee's looks for some people! 

You're invited to do some pollinator spotting of your own in the coming week. There's another round of the Wild Pollinator Count running from Sunday 12th to Saturday 18th of April. As you may recall from the inaugural event, the idea is to spend 10 minutes watching a flowering plant of your choice, and to record the pollinators you see visiting. You can use the project tally sheet to keep track, and it's fine if you're not sure as to the precise identification (I'm no expert either!). There are also lots of links to useful resources on the project site, along with tips for encouraging pollinators into your garden. 

Find out more by visiting wildpollinatorcount.com. 

I hope you'll join in, share your observations and help us to raise awareness and knowledge about Aussie pollinators! 

We received a lot of positive (and heart-warming) feedback about the classes from our students over the time I was involved (and that I'd heard prior to that), which is awesome. The aspect I didn't fully anticipate was how much I learnt from these studentsand teaching this class. And with funding changes that mean the class is not being offered this year (but maybe it will be again, sometime, or something in a similar form can be developed to 'tick the right boxes' to enable a reincarnation), I found myself reflecting on some of the lessons I learnt.

They say that a way to gauge that you've got your head around something when you can explain it to other people. I think you could add ‘particularly if you can explain it to an ESOL* class!' Developing materials and content for these guys really concentrated my thoughts as to what was important or not, and how to convey the messages in easy-to-understand ways. We used lots of repetition, 'doing' and pictures, in particular. Lou’s experience co-ordinating a primary school garden program, as well as the Australian organic schools materials, were really valuable here, though of course we tweaked things to best suit these adult learners.

The students would often note that time in the garden helped to give them something to do, rather than to ruminate on troubles or previous challenges they'd been through. In fact, many were pretty disappointed when TAFE holidays rolled around and they missed the class. Likewise, the resilience, cheerfulness and attitudes of these folks really gave me a refreshed perspective on my own life.

Feel like you're having a tough week? Think for a second about what some of these people have been through and yet how happy, and grateful they are to be here, to be building a better life, to the future they and their children will enjoy ... and suddenly my 'tough week' seems pretty pathetic.

Likewise consider how difficult it is to function in our society with limited English skills - to rely on others to negotiate the paperwork and requirements of the support systems; to get your licence, and even to eat well when the foods you're accustomed to preparing are either not available or prohibitively expensive. It is so easy to overlook these challenges, and they're just the tip of the iceberg.

Yet when working in the garden they sing, and they laugh and they dig like crazy and just want to plant more and more (especially mustard greens and coriander). And I couldn't help but laugh and smile along - their attitude is infectious!

Image: Picking coridander

I too learnt about other climates and growing conditions, as the students shared with us the climate, seasons and growing practices of Bhutan and Nepal. I improved my appreciation (and recipe collection) for mustard greens - although I don't ever expect to be as excited by them as most of these students are!

And of course, a big bonus was that I got to hang out in another garden, growing food and talking about all things garden-related, on a regular basis! It's also pretty impressive what you can achieve with 8 to 14 people all on the job/s at once; and how time flies as you do it.

Image: steam rises from the hot compost as Hari and Ruth turn it on a cold winters morning.

There are plenty of other examples, but I'm conscious I've already dragged this out more than I'd intended.

To read more about the history of this program, you might like to check out this Organic Gardener magazine article, along with sensational additional photos by local photographer Simon Dallinger of the class, garden and the NEC organic farm.

Image: Organic Gardener magazine, April/May 2014

This and many other programs also demonstrate how food gardens can help to educate and heal - be it for for health (mental and physical), healthy eating, and understanding food systems and connecting us to our environment and ecosystems. That's a lot of winners in my book. I hope we'll see this model of ‘practising English (and all the associated skills and benefits) through gardening’ used again, both locally and perhaps further afield.

A big thank you to TAFE for the opportunity to be involved, to those supported me (particularly Lou Bull and Sue Brunskill) and, to these students - may we all have the chance to learn from you, and to share your enthusiasm for the many privileges and opportunities we have, particularly those we can tend to take for granted.

--

*ESOL - English for Speakers of Other Languages

When Lou Bull and I became involved in teaching this class (stepping into a role Bec Chettleburgh had previously) we brought some of our passions and interests to the existing mix. For instance, we'd photograph the class in the garden and they would practice their writing and then reading, to create a garden journal of our activities from the photos.

Image: Pages of one of the class garden journals

We sought to design and work the garden as a market garden - standardising the beds, recording the yields, using crop rotation and practicing skills that help to increase students' employability in the horticulture industry, as well as ways they can grow food in rental accommodation (a challenge in itself).

We incorporated things from previous classes such as looking at beneficial and pest species in the system, organic approaches to soil improvement, pest and disease management and added our own interests too. We made hot composts; looked after the chooks; learnt about safety; even participated in the Wild Pollinator Count.

Image: the mowing and whipper-snippering sessions were popular

In the garden the class grew a mix of plants, particularly those that the students like to eat and that are hard and/or expensive for them to access. For example, mustard greens, daikon radish and coriander were very popular. But we also tried to encourage growing (and eating!) other vegetables that grow well in our region, and/or that might work in their curries and favorite dishes. 

Image: the garden in winter. Comprising approximately 30 rows, 8-10 metres long. If you've got really good eyes you might see the broad beans, coriander and green manures, brassicas, garlic, other leafy greens, peas, daikon radish, asparagus and onions. The trees within and around the patch are stone fruit and figs.

As a class each week we'd harvest any food that was ready, they'd weigh and record it and then carefully divide it up between themselves to take home. We had occasional cooking sessions, and the students prepared a feast that included class-grown food along with organic meat from the TAFE farm and all the campus staff were invited to join in the lunch (with appropriate warnings as to the chilli factor for particular dishes!).

Image: weighing mustard greens to add to the harvest tally

Image: dividing the harvest to share

Up next, in the final post of this little series, I'll reflect on what I learnt from being a part of this program.

Image: class of 2014 

These students were the proud recipients of their certificate ii in permaculture earlier this month. This class are Bhutanese refugees and the class combined their studies four days a week of English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) with a day a week in the garden at the National Environment Centre (NEC) learning about permaculture. Students opted in to join the class, and as such it tended to attract students who had had agriculture or food-growing experiences before coming to Australia. The combined focus meant the program was supported by both an ESOL teacher and permaculture teacher at each class. I've been fortunate to teach into this program for 18 months from the permaculture side (a role I shared with Lou Bull). Ruth Yule from Riverina Institute of TAFE's Albury campus was the ESOL teacher.

So why are even the teachers wearing saris? It began after a conversation with the previous cohort (class of 2013) about graduation. We were discussing what graduation was; who they should invite; and how the evening would proceed. One of the students said ‘For a Bhutanese celebration we would wear saris. Should we wear saris to graduation?’ To which Ruth replied, ‘Yes! It's a celebration, wear a sari.’

Shortly thereafter another question came, ‘Are the teachers going to wear saris?’ Ruth and I looked at each other before she replied ‘The teachers don't own saris’, which I naively thought would be the end of the conversation. We all returned to class work (I thought), though there was quite a bit of excited-sounding Nepali being spoken among the students. A few minutes later, with a big grin on her face, another student said, ‘If we bring some saris, will the teachers wear a sari at graduation?’  Another glance was exchanged between Ruth and I, and a lot of giggling by the students. ‘Yes, ok - if you can help us, the teachers will also wear saris to graduation’.

And so it was that I wore Renuka's wedding sari to graduation last year. Ruth and Lou were also loaned (and assisted with dressing in) saris too. I think the colorful attire was at least a little bemusing to some of the graduates of other courses, and to some of our work colleagues - particularly as I don't think they've ever known me to wear anything other than shirt, jeans and boots at TAFE.

And this year, despite not seeing any of the class in the lead up to graduation, this year’s class had also brought saris for us ... and my 'big effort' to don a skirt for the occasion was replaced by metres of brilliant pink fabric and embroidery. (Fortunately I'd also ditched the work boots for the night).

Teacher attire is obviously an aside. Graduation for this class really is something special. For many of them, it’s their first qualification ever. Some have had little or no previous schooling, so it’s not just the challenge of learning English; it’s the challenge of literacy to enable them to complete a permaculture certificate. I’ll write some more about the nature of the class shortly, but suffice to say that graduation for this class, in particular, truly is a cause for celebration.

Congratulations to all!

Nope, me neither.[Sorry Dad, I'm pretty sure everyone except you was with me on that!]

Yet the Mt Beauty hospital "Puff ‘n’ Pedal" team are doing exactly that again this year as a fundraiser.

So where do you and I come into it? In support, of course! You can sponsor the riders via their My Cause page. Or, get along to their charity auction in Mt Beauty on Sunday (March 15th) and pick yourself up some of the local goodies on offer.

Here are some details for that event, including the current auction item list, which is still growing (click to view as a PDF):

Oh, and you can even keep up with the team’s adventures via facebook  - https://www.facebook.com/PuffNPedal.

Let’s see - lunch in Mt Beauty and charity auction; online donation; and/or a ‘like’ or ‘follow’ on facebook  - they each sound quite painless compared to all that cycling, to me!

View the event listing

Note that the session is for those with bees and/or some beekeeping experience. For those contemplating starting out with bees, stay tuned, other opportunities are in the pipeline (and will likely appear on Ecoportal.net.au). 

Here's a little photo essay that started with photographing a native bee on Dianella. It turned out I wasn't the only one watching the bee. Without realising it, I took a series of shots that included a mantis slowly manoeuvring itself closer to the native bee. Then wham! The mantis caught the bee and proceeded to eat it ... and I kept clicking.

Below, here's the bee ...

And, unbeknownst to both the bee and I at this stage, here's the mantis

(the bee is on the flower closest to the mantis' head)

Here's the bee again - note all the yellow pollen she's collected

And closer comes the mantis ...

 ... until SWIPE! The mantis has the bee

And proceeds to eat it

 Legs first, including that pollen

I know it's a bit gruesome, but it was also astounding to see. For those interested, the bee was Lasioglossum (Chilalictus) lanarium and the mantis Archimantis latistyla (thanks to Ken Walker via Bowerbird for those). You can view higher resolution versions of these images here.

I often spot things in my photos that I didn't see when I took the shot. Spiders underneath flowers are probably the most common examples. However, it's not often that my subject is grabbed and eaten while I'm shooting it.  

Fortunately for me no speeches were required. Who knows what I might have said! I was also relieved to see that the 'official' photo (below) didn't catch what I suspect included my eyes the size of dinner plates and my tongue hanging out of the side of my mouth, cartoon style, as I collected the award. As I shook Chris Riedy's hand all I could come up with was, "This is totally unbelievable!" before thanking him, and no doubt continuing my stunned mullet impersonation. 

Photo: Award presentation with Chris Riedy, Associate Professor, Institute for Sustainable Futures at UTS

Photo: With NSW Minister for the Environment, Hon. Rob Stokes.

With more than 300 people attending, the event was a celebration of sustainability efforts across a wide range of categories from around the state. And it was something pretty special to have my efforts as part of our local grassroots collectives awarded alongside companies and organisations of all sizes (and budgets!).

Our MC for the night Reuben Meerman (aka the Surfing Scientist, and presenter for Catalyst and Play School among other claims to fame) entertainingly kept the proceedings on track. While Clarence Slockee (who I've watched on Gardening Australia, and is another multiple-hat-wearing-bloke) gave the best 'welcome to country' I have had the pleasure of experiencing.

After the formalities and photos it was also a treat to share a few beers and stories with some of the other regional winners at a nearby pub. They included folks from The Observatory Hotel in Port Macquarie (who took out the Premier's award for environmental excellence as well as a small business sustainability award), Wagga council (10 year sustainability award), De Bortoli wines (medium to large business award) and Mars Petcare (waste and recycling award - funny to go all that way to run into a project I'd worked just a tiny bit on years ago in a paid role, locally!).

My sincere thanks again to all who helped make this fairytale happen. Particularly to Lizette, who co-ordinated the nomination and wasn't at all perturbed by my protests that I didn't fit the bill. Thanks, too, to Dieuwer Reynders, our local Office of Environment and Heritage community engagement team leader, who encouraged nominations from our groups and whose office helped support me to attend the event (I very nearly didn't go!). Plus a whole host of others who help and inspire me to do what I do, as well as adding their own efforts into the mix.

To all who jump in to collaborate, turn up and participate in the wide range of sustainability events and groups locally, here's a huge 'high five' for us all. 

And to round out the thank yous, I have to acknowledge the Prince Charming of this fairytale, my partner Ralph. I doubt much of this would happen without him. When the wheels fall off because I've taken on too much (again) he not only puts them back on, but sends me out to look for blue-banded bees (my personal 'recalibration' or meditation) while he does it. (The mixed metaphor makes sense to me, apologies if it doesn't translate well for anyone else!) I can't and won't try to list all he does, but I'm sure regular readers of this blog know a bit of it; and more so do all our friends and family. Thanks Ralph, you are the best!

Photo: Ralph and I

And if you're still wondering what all the fuss is about - not just for this award, but even sustainability in general - maybe you'll take the time to click through to Ecoportal.net.au and check out the nearly 60 local sustainability-related groups and 40+ event listings per month across our area, offering fun and inspiring opportunities for your own sustainability journey.

Hope to see you at one (or many) of these events soon! 

Credits: First two photos copyright Cassandra Hannagan, taken for the Office of Environment and Heritage.

Related: A brief Border Mail article from Saturday's paper announcing the news is here.

Here's a story the Border Mail ran about it in Monday's paper.

Image: The Border Mail article, click here to view the story online

The Office of Environment and Heritage note that these awards are about "recognising environmental excellence, leadership and innovation in NSW."

I was nominated in the sustainability champion award category, and the nomination focussed not on my vocational sustainability roles but on my voluntary activities within local groups and projects, like with Ecoportal.net.au, Seed Savers Albury-Wodonga, and yes, even this little blog site.

You can check out all the finalists in the 'sustainability champion' category here (and see all the award categories here). Like me, you may be blown away by the calibre and achievements of the other finalists. I feel well out of my depth! I can only assume that the judges were keen to acknowledge that it's not only large companies and organisations, or even sustainability specialists, who encourage sustainable living. 

I'm indebted to the team of contributors who compiled my nomination, and particularly to Lizette Salmon who co-ordinated it. And of course, to everyone involved in the groups and projects I help out with - it's by no means a solo effort on my part. Locally we have a thriving network of individuals, grassroots groups and organisations all working in a myriad of ways to encourage sustainable living.  I believe we're doing pretty well to support each other, as well as lifting the bar in developing and delivering fun and informative events and projects. And that is something to celebrate.

So cheers to all our sustainability efforts locally, and I hope this publicity will help to spread the word, spur others to get involved or add energy to other local, grassroots projects that encourage sustainable living.

Meanwhile, I'm off to the op-shop to find something to wear to NSW Parliament House next week.

1) I saw the first blue banded bee of the season in our garden. It was not where I expected it (the stand of Dianella outside a neighbour's house is usually the spot), and around three weeks ahead of past sightings, as per the calendar at least. I didn't get any photos but Ralph also saw it - a single blue banded bee on the flowers of a daikon radish last week. 

Below: This little video clip features one of the last of the "bbb"s I saw before winter. Maybe this serves as 'file footage' like they use for tv news? Shortly the blue banded bees will be everywhere, but in the meantime here's a reminder of what to look out for! 

Video: Blue banded bee

2) The native bees I observed last year roosting on Dianella by the walk and cycle path near here are back! Last Thursday night I saw just one roosting Megachile ferox male. Each night since then there have been two. I'll be out there as many nights as I can to check. They aren't there during the day. More about them here and here. Last year I didn't notice them until November, so with luck I might have a couple of months to observe them this season.  Sound like I've signed up for a(nother) project? You betchya!

3) For at least the third year in a row, there's a blue-tongue lizard (presumably eastern blue-tongue?) hanging out around our gas meter by the front of the house. It was first sighted in the last week of August and I've seen it most days since. It's pretty shy, but it sun bakes most days, making it possible to spot if you approach quietly. No blue-tongues spotted in the backyard as yet. One usually decides the stormwater pipe from the shed is a good spot. We've also seen some take a fancy to chook food in the past (though the blue-tongue that thought it would 'upgrade' to eggs one year met an untimely end when the chooks weren't so keen on that idea and 'took care of it').

4) Of the many, many other 'spring wonders' you can watch, I'll nominate the fruit trees for their intensive progress from the 'bare' branches of late winter, quickly moving to first buds, flowers, leaves and already developing fruits ... better get the nets on them so we can keep the fruit fly and birds at bay! Below is a photo of our new apricot's progress, as an example. Our pears, quince, apples, plums, grapes and even cane and strawberries are all powering along with equal gusto. And the first spears of asparagus didn't even make it to the kitchen - raw and juicy, they were munched the moment they were picked.

What are you watching and getting a 'buzz' from this spring??

Last Sunday, for the third year in a row, the North Eastern Apiarists' Association (NEAA) ran a spring field day and workshops for new and prospective beekeepers. It was again very well attended, as you might expect. Participants ranged from those with just an idea they might like to keep bees, through to others who have hives and at least one with several decades of beekeeping experience.

The day consisted of a film screening and then a series of presentations and workshops. There was plenty of opportunity to have hands on time with the multiple hives that were set up along the edges of the tennis court and to discuss the many facets of getting started with backyard bees, and the spring time management of hives. 

Image: nucleus hives set up along the tennis court with one of the groups working in pairs to check out each one, looking for the brood pattern, noting the features of the comb and observing the worker and queen bees and more.

Image: oh, there's the queen (yes easier in a nucleus colony; and indeed when I've cropped and focussed for you ... otherwise there's a distinct similarity to playing with a 'Where's Wally?' book to locate a single bee among tens of thousands!)

The presenters, NEAA members as well as Russell Goodman from the Department of Environment and Primary Industries, did a great job of focussing their discussion on beekeeping at the hobby scale. Sometimes they'd also explain why or how commercial beekeepers might address the same issue or topic. This is also of interest, but can be quite different to the approaches that are available and practical for backyard beekeepers. As always when talking beekeeping, it was reinforced there is no single 'right way', but instead a range of approaches and methods to care for and manage these astounding creatures.

It was interesting to note how the dozen or so other participants I knew at the event each took different things away from the sessions (as presumably, did all the attendees). Sometimes it was information that was new to them and others noted the value of the reinforcement and expansion on methods they'd heard or tried before. Attendees also took the opportunity to ask questions that might have been niggling or come up during their own beekeeping experience.

For sure, there's plenty to learn on the path to being a good beekeeper. There's no magic 'infusion' to gain all that information in one go. In fact, trying to take it all in can be one of the challenges for new beekeepers. For example, my Dad was attending this year for the third time. He said that as a newbie beekeeper the first year, he was pretty much lost after the first 15 minutes, having taken in as much information as he could process. By the second year, and with a little more experience, he said he was able to 'nod along' to perhaps 30 minutes of content plus add some new knowledge, before again struggling to process much more with his brain 'full' for the day. And this year? He said on the day he'd made it to 45 minutes of reinforcing information and picked up new tips from there [and revised that to an hour in hindsight!] … which I think means he'll be getting along to plenty more beekeeping sessions if they come up. But good on him, and all the attendees, for looking to keep learning and to consolidate what they have experienced, too.

Image: simulating the re-queening process and hive splitting ... where is that queen?

A highlight for me was Linton Briggs' presentation on flora for beekeeping. Mr Briggs has decades and decades of experience noting the flowering patterns of local plants, both native and exotic, as well as their roles in nectar and pollen provision for honeybees. He's like a talking ecology encyclopaedia, only more animated, with simple explanations and always coming back to the implications of his observations in terms of the bees.

It made me reflect on what I've learnt in the mere five years since I started trying to observe and note the flowering patterns of plants in my own garden and area (eg here and here). This too began as a tool for beekeeping, and has led to so many other things for me since then! While I am an utter beginner compared to the charming and inspiring Mr Briggs, I agree wholeheartedly with his assertion that observing the patterns of flora over seasons, years and locations is a truly "enriching experience". So too, noted Mr Briggs, is cultivating your connection with the natural world through beekeeping.

I extended my thanks to the presenters and organisers. I appreciate that running an event like this takes considerable time and energy, at a busy time of year for those with their own apiaries and businesses to run. I hope the NEAA will continue to run similar events and that they will attract yet more prospective, new and even experienced hobby beekeepers. The opportunity to learn and share is invaluable.

We watched the honey bees and their hive. The visitors brought food scraps to feed the chooks. With lots of flowers in bloom we did some spotting of various types of pollinators. I showed some photos of native bees (not many out that morning) and we looked at the native bee hotels (of course!). And everyone was keen to 'cuddle' the worms from one of the worm towers in the wicking beds.

It sounds like there will be some projects at Yarrunga to come out of this visit, including making their own bee hotels, planting succulents in old boots and creating a worm tower for their food garden. 

What's more, later that day I received a huge thank you card. It features the kids' journal entries about the visit with their drawings and comments. You won't be able to see the detail, but believe me, it's a ripper!

All garden photos courtesy of those attending and Yarrunga Early Learning Centre.

So far I've seen at least five species of native bees in the garden - and had some help via the BowerBird website to have them identified. Thank you Dr Ken Walker and Mr Michael Batley. I'm hoping to build on my previous records as to which native bees are seen when through the season. 

Predictably, the very first native bees seen were on the hardenbergias (you might know these plants as happy wanderer, purple coral pea or false sarsparilla; Hardenbergia violacea). It's a bee magnet with its early, purple pea flowers. I've planted some more of these this year, as they are so popular with the native bees. Honeybees and other insects are also taken with it. My white and pink hardenbergias are not nearly as popular as the purple flowers of this one.

Images: left and middle - female Trichocolletes tenuiculus zipping between hardenbergia flowers;

right - a male rests on a leaf.

As you might expect, my ability to spot native bees has slowly improved with practice and experience. So too has my knowledge of where to look for them. Previously I'd not paid much attention to our single wattle, an Acacia boormanii or Snowy River wattle. However that changed when its leaves were used as nesting material by a native bee last year (see here).

Maybe I haven't looked closely enough at this plant during flowering before either. This week I've noted two species of native bee on this wattle's flowers; a brightly colored 'red bee' (see below left) and one of the Hyleaus bees, which you could be forgiven for assuming to be a wasp (below, right). These bees have a smooth appearance, where a common expectation is for bees to be hairy or honeybee-like.

Image: a bright red bee Lasioglossum (Parasphecodes) hilactumImage: Hylaeus (Euprosopis) honestus

The smallest of the bees spotted so far were only about 4mm long. That makes them very easy to overlook, or perhaps assume them to be some other small insects. 

Image:Lasioglossum (Chilalictus) cognatum - the flowers are alyssum.

Image: Another shot of L. cognatum (I found this one on its last legs), just to reinforce how tiny they are

- I assure you I have small hands and it's not an accentuated camera angle.

The final species caught by my camera so far is a common one from the Lasioglossum genus. The female below joined many honeybees and several other pollinators on the rosemary this week.

Image: Lasioglossum (Chilalictus) lanarium

If you'd like to see some additional photos of my 'early' bee sightings click any of the the images above to see their respective entries on BowerBird. Or to browse the enormous range of photos being uploaded by people across Australia of fungi, birds, mammals, insects, flowers and more visit BowerBird.org.au.

I reckon native bee spotting is a great hobby. (Bet you wouldn't have guessed I feel that way!). Or any nature-watching for that matter. It gets you out into the sunshine and fresh air. It connects you to your environment. And, for me at least, it's exciting and awe-inspiring to observe what many people do not see. What's more, if native bees are your preferred critter to watch, when the weather turns too cold or windy you can give it a miss - the bees don't like it either, and won't be out!

Consider having a look in your backyard, a park or even along the footpath. You might be surprised what you find. 

But below is a little video of Ralph's "automated, cordless compost turner", which I can assure you is NOT an approach that will be featured this weekend.

We have an awesome 'three bay' set up for our compost that Ralph made. As 'chief composter' it was my role to aerate the compost by either moving the contents from one bay to another or using a corkscrew style tool (ours was a compost mate).

However, as usual, Ralph saw opportunities for efficiency and automation in my approach. He modified the tool (removed the handle) to enable it to be fitted to his cordless drill. Please don't hurt yourself trying this at home, folks ... yes, he stands on planks above the compost, and yes, it's asking for trouble for your back. But I also thought you might like to take a look. 

Compost turner video clip- runs 35 seconds, no sound.

This tool does do a very quick and efficient job. With it, Ralph can turn a bay of compost thoroughly in 5-10 minutes, where manually it might take me up to half an hour. There's something very satisfying in turning compost in mid-winter and seeing steam rise from it. (Or is that just me?). In this clip the compost is pretty much complete, so it's not so hot ... but it had reached this stage in under three weeks, using hot composting methods including regular turning.

The downside is that I'm not allowed to operate this little wonder. Ralph reckons I'd get it stuck in the compost and end up being whizzed around on the end of it, cartoon style. Actually, I can see it - me hanging on to the drill, my body horizonal to the ground (think superman flying) and legs in the air (think Robben at the World Cup, oh sorry Dutchies, a low blow given "we" bowed out today!). The upside is that when Makita realise the potential, they'll surely come up with an appropriate clutch to save me from flying and I'll be in business! NB: Ralph would appreciate some royalties, if you're reading this Makita development team.

In all seriousness, I do love composting. And I know others who find it equally addictive. The bottom line is it's a valuable skill and resource for gardeners, so it's worth learning to do it well.

If you're looking for some tips on composts or soils for your garden, there are still a couple of places available for the weekend's sessions. No power tools required. 

There are three topics in the series, each offered at two alternate times on weekend afternoons, with limited places available for each session. Register to attend as many, or as few, of the topics as you like.

1. Get growing sustainably

What is sustainable gardening; explore various tools to help you to develop the first (or next) steps for your garden

Sat 21st June OR Sun 22nd June, both 1:30pm - 4:30pm

2. Soils

Understanding & improving your soil, including soil tests, organic methods & compost

Sat 12th July OR Sun 13th July, both 1:30pm - 4:30pm

3. Propagation, saving seed & surviving summers

Ways to extend your garden, share with others and prepare for summer

Sat 11th October OR Sun 12th October, both 2pm - 5pm 

Venue: National Environment Centre, Thurgoona

The workshops will look at 'sustainable' gardening from a range of perspectives and provide tools you can choose from for use in your own garden (or not - afterall, there's no single way to garden that suits everyone!).

The sessions are designed to accommodate all-comers - whether just starting out or a seasoned gardener - and are an opportunity for participants to share local experience.

There's some more information on the flyer below (click the image to view as a PDF online) and the events are also listed on the Ecoportal.net.au calendar.

Image: SSAW Sustainable Gardening Workshop series flyer

The series is supported by Murray Local Land Services, the Australian Government and Riverina Institute of TAFE.

We'd really appreciate your support for this series too, either as a participant (please book) or by passing this information on to others who may be interested.

Disclaimer: As you've likely guessed or noticed, I'm helping to deliver this series!

The session was subtitled 'wildlife working for you - how pollinators and scattered trees can add to your productivity and profitability', and attendees included farmers, landcarers and students. The amazing speaker line up featured Dr Saul Cunningham (CSIRO) on pollinators in the paddock; Mason Crane (ANU) on scattered paddock trees and Dr Damian Michael (ANU: based locally) on reptiles in the paddock. Their respective talks noted the ecology of each, their interactions and how that ecological knowledge can be used to achieve to better outcomes on farm, including financially.

You probably won't be surprised to hear that I was thrilled to meet Dr Saul Cunningham, whose research on pollinators I follow. His talk on the roles of honeybees, both 'managed' and feral, and native bees included fascinating data and studies spanning several years. I'm afraid it also reinforced my enthusiasm for my own little backyard-based, citizen science approach to monitoring and observing native bees! [Insert your groan or eye-roll here, as required].

Some great questions and discussions came out of the presentations and continued over a delicious lunch (thanks Savernake Public School P&C!). Then we headed out into the gorgeous sunshine to check out how the theory played out in terms of our hosts' property "Aarden". We wandered and chatted, with each of the presenters adding suggestions, observations and answering questions as we looked at existing infrastructure, revegetation efforts and some impressive paddock trees.

Mason Crane and Dr Saul Cunningham

Dr Damian Michael with a tiny skink

Checking out a magnificent paddock tree

A huge thank you to all involved - Corowa District Landcare (with support from Murray LLS and Corowa Shire) especially the organisers, "Aarden" owners Derek, Leanne & Murk, and the three inspiring researchers who so willingly and effectively shared some of their incredible knowledge and passion. 

You can view some more photos I took at the event here.

I am sorry I didn't capture the fantastic shearing shed in which the presentations were delivered - it was a ripper venue!

They are Charlie and Fay Robinson, and frankly, we could probably have made at least ten short films about them, so diverse are their interests and experiences. This film is about their place at Baarmutha (just out of Beechworth) and particularly about food and sustainability. Ralph and I had visited their home on an open day in the past. The Robinsons are active with Beechworth Urban Landcare and Sustainability and have been guest speakers for many groups locally.

However, trying to capture their story on film gave me new insights, not only into what they do, but why, and just how much energy they manage to put into their efforts, and the delight they get from all they do. Their enthusiasm really is infectious!

My involvement in the film came about via a kind nudge from Lizette Salmon. Having created her own amazing contribution about her parents (please watch it here if you haven't already), Lizette was keen to see a film made about Charlie and Fay but was also ready to pass the baton to others. Hence, Jenni and Wolfgang Huber, Rosemary McConnell and I, all with pretty much zero film making experience, found ourselves making a short film mentored by the highly skilled and incredibly patient Suzi Taylor from ABC Open.

Photo: (L to R) Wolfgang, Jenni, Suzi, Rosemary, Fay and Charlie (I'm taking the pic!)

Believe me, this little baby took some time! But what a privledge to work with Suzi, and I learnt heaps from this experience in terms of how to develop the story, think through and capture the audio and visuals, find and use appropriate music (and background sounds!) and of course how to pull the whole lot together.

I'm sure Suzi will acknowledge we bumbled our way through, as you might expect from an inexperienced, but keen, crew. And she held our hands when there was heavy lifting to be done. I'm pretty sure the editing would have taken us weeks, had Suzi not been working her magic to ensure we had a clear idea of what we captured on film, whizzing about with shortcut keys and no end of clever ideas in the editing stage and getting us to think through exactly which stories we were trying to share.

The truth be known, even finding times that worked between four crew, Suzi and our two subjects was challenge enough. Then we were rained out (no good for filming but great for food growing!). And what great sports Charlie and Fay were throughout. I think at times being asked to 'wait' or 'go again' so we could work through a range of wide, mid and close-up shots, was rather slow-going compared to their usual fast-as-you-can approach.

I hope you'll enjoy what we've created ... and that you, too, will be inspired by Charlie and Fay, or perhaps even by our creation of this film, to grab opportunities you might find and to share such stories so others can gain from them as well.

The film runs for just under five mintues. You can view it below and/or on the ABC Open website (where there's also more about Charlie and Fay, and it would be the place to leave a comment, should you feel so inclined).

Lastly, some more happy snaps of us in action, during filming ... 

Update

on 2014-04-19 09:53 by Karen

In case you'd like to read more about the topic, please check out this ABC Goulburn Murray local radio web link, which includes more about Charlie and Fay, but also climate change psychology and local impacts of extreme weather. See Canberra to Beechworth: an extreme lifestyle makeover (same film, but different text in the article!).

I had the privilege of tagging along for the trip - but no puffing nor pedalling for me ... I got to take a few happy snaps along the way. It was a chance to not only marvel at the effort these folks put into organising and staging such a great fundraising event, but also to enjoy the fantastic scenery they rode through while doing it. Sometimes it's good to have an excuse to admire what we have on our back doorstep!

This event saw 18 cyclists, and their all important support crew, cover almost 400km in a day and a half, around our beautiful region. They left Mt Beauty on Saturday morning and were in Wangaratta by 5pm that afternoon. That's a pretty good effort when you consider they took a challenging but very scenic route that saw them cycle down the Kiewa Valley, across to Sandy Creek, over Lockhart's Gap, along the Mitta Valley, up and over Granya Gap, back along the Murray River Road to cross briefly into NSW near Bellbridge, followed by a series of mostly quiet country roads to take them through Bonegilla, Wodonga, Barnawartha, Chiltern and finally to Wangaratta. Saturday's total ride distance was 270 km, and though it was designed as a team relay, most riders chose to ride a majority of the legs. There were never less than seven cyclists on the road at any one time and frequently more than half the team were cycling.

Photos: big smiles, the view from Lockhart's Gap and arriving in Wang at the end of day one.

Sunday involved pedalling their way from Wangaratta back to the Kiewa Valley, including along some of the Murray to Mountains rail trail. All 18 riders rode the whole way. That was another hundred kilometres. It included a pretty decent climb over Rosewhite Gap. And they got rained on a bit. All after the previous day's efforts in the saddle. But none of that was a problem for this crew!

Photo: along the rail trail near Everton

Previously the Mt Beauty hospital fundraisers have participated in the Murray to Moyne cycle relay, along with thousands of other participants. This year, they decided to create their own event, to bring the challenge closer to home. The group also hosted a fundraising dinner and auction prior to the ride. They hope to use funds from this year's efforts to buy a vaccine and blood storage fridge and lifting equipment to help elderly residents. Over the past ten years of fundraising this group have raised more than $80,000.

For those who like stats, you may be interested to know that between the 18 cyclists, the total distance ridden for the weekend exceeded 4,500 kilometres. The route contained over 2,500 metres of climbing (that is, height gained, not the distance on the road!). And even dealing with five punctures during the weekend's proceedings didn't slow them down for long. Ceccanti Wines hosted the end of event lunch, and I'm confident it went a long way towards replenishing the energy burnt during the ride and meeting the coffee requirements that seem to go hand in hand with cycling.

If you would like to help out, donations will be gratefully received at the Mt Beauty hospital or online at http://www.mycause.com.au/page/mtbeautyhospitalpuffnpedal. Many thanks to all who helped make the event happen and contributed to its success. That is, the organisers, cyclists, the support crew, sponsors, friends and family, and everyone who has donated and/or contributed in other ways.

Meanwhile, the plans to do it all again next year are already being discussed!

Image: Golden-Browed Resin Bee at our bee hotel

She's another of the current frequenters of our bee hotels. The informative Native Bees of the Sydney Regionfield guide (the only field guide to native bees in Australia; so don't be put off that our place isn't in the Sydney region) advises that M. aurifrons females tend to like these drilled holes in hardwood as nesting places. They also like to use existing cavities, such as fence posts, mortar and even abandoned mud-wasp cells.

She seemed to spend quite a bit of time entering and leaving various holes in the bee hotel before deciding which one to build a nest in. Again, much of the action was out of my sight, inside the hole. But when she was getting toward sealing the nest, I managed to get some shots of her. In the video below you can see that she's using chewed leaves as her building material. She carries them to the nest in her mandibles (mouth parts) and then manipulates it into place. If you look closely, you can see this in the clip. Her mandibles are quite large.

I noted that she would work for some minutes, then fly away, and return a few minutes later with another load of building material. I figured that must mean her source must be fairly close. Sure enough, I spotted her on a wattle (Acacia boormanii?) collecting the leaves. It's only about five metres away from her nest. 

Video:A close look at nest building by a native bee

I've subsequently watched this bee build additional nests in this bee hotel. And there's another one (or more?) nesting in another bee hotel. I've also seen them checking out other holes, including in salvaged timber, around our wooden outdoor setting on the verandah and the mortar of our house. They all seem to be using the same wattle for their building material, with some using sawdust for the outer layer of the nest.

Again, Ken Walker confirmed the identity of this bee when I shared the video on BowerBird. Thanks Ken, and to others who've made comments about the clip. I am always excited about the bees, as you know, but this one is a super stunner!

Lucky for me, I happened to be around when some of them were completing their nests. With solitary bees, the female creates her nest (in this case, in one of the drilled holes), provisions it with an egg and pollen, then seals it up. While she's working on the sealing stage is a great opportunity to observe her work. 

To give you a sense of scale, in the video below, the hole this bee is working in is about 5mm in diameter. The timber was an offcut from an olive tree and it's in the newest of our bee hotels. Yes, we have more than one! 

Video:Native bee building her nest in a "bee hotel"

I uploaded this little clip to BowerBird.org.au, along with some additional photos that showed the finished nest, complete with some sticks or grass used in the outer layers. Ken Walker confirmed this bee is Megachile ferox ... which is the same species you might recall I'd observed some males of "scuffling" not far from our place last month.

You can see this Bowerbird listing at http://www.bowerbird.org.au/observations/10793.

Or to see all our posts about bee hotels click here.

What about the males I noticed in November?

I am a bit sad to say the male Megachile ferox along the walkway have now moved on. I checked on them most evenings and noted their numbers. (As you do! I'll also mention I met some wonderful people during this process; and I am pretty sure I freaked out equally as many, when they came across me seemingly staring at nothing beside the walkway, often at dusk or after dark!). During the day these bees would go and do whatever it is they do (forage? look for females?). Then in the late afternoon or evening they would return, not only to the same Dianella (aka flax lily), but even to the same couple of branches on that particular plant.

Their numbers varied a bit. Here's a chart. It's a bit small to see but I've used the bees as the units - one bee photo equals one bee spotted that evening ... ok, you can stop rolling your eyes now!

Image: number of male Megachile ferox seen on the one particular Dianella plant, by date.

When he identified these bees from my earlier video, Dr Walker suggested these males would have chosen that spot for its proximity to the female bees. It certainly seemed a good choice. It's somewhat protected by the surrounding infrastructure from strong wind and westerly sun, but with morning sun access, and other Dianellas nearby. However, it was also intriguing that they only came here, and not to any of the 30 or more other Dianella plants in the vicinity. And then, as you can see on the chart, they suddenly all stopped coming.

It was about three days after that, I first noticed a female (perhaps the one in the above video?) hanging out in the bee hotel.

Incidentally, other species of native bee have also been visiting this plant (and those around it) while it has flowered. And for the last couple of nights a female blue banded bee has spent the night resting there.

I wonder what will happen next?

A week later, two eggs remained after Candy broke two, but both those had seemed (smelt!) rotten any way. Then on Sunday night I noticed a crack in one, and could hear tapping from inside the shell.

The next morning we had a chick and to our surprise and delight the following morning another hatched from the remaining egg!

Candy is doing an excellent job as a first-time mum, oblivious to the fact that she's a surrogate. She's teaching them to scratch and calls them over when she finds things for them to eat. We're temporarily referring to the chicks as 'Monday' and 'Tuesday' (not very creative I know) but I have a feeling the names might stick. 

With luck they'll make it through to adulthood and will be girls. As my friend Lou remarked, "don't count your chickens until they're not roosters". (Though of course given the odds, and the council's rules about roosters, we do have a plan for this eventuality).

Many thanks Jan and Jaime, and welcome to our place, chicks! 

Can you imagine my delight when just days after Ken's visit I noticed these small native bees perched on Dianella stems along the walking path in East Albury. The photo below includes Ralph's fingers, to give you some idea of their size.

My guess was that they were males, as they tend to be seen resting on stems like this, where the females often rest in their nests. There were four of them in close proximity and they seemed quite unconcerned about me pointing my lens at them. 

Image: Can you spot the four bees in this photo? 

Image: hanging on with their mandibles (mouth parts)

Image: and a side-on look at two bees; one is walking along the stem.

Then suddenly they were all on the move, and some appeared to 'attack' others. It's a rather strange sight to watch a bee hanging on by its mandibles (mouth parts) while resting, and letting its legs dangle mid-air or be tucked up out of use. But this was another thing again, as the ones on the stem waved their legs above their bodies seemingly trying to fend off the other bees. I caught some of this on video - so take a look for yourself.

A native bee scuffle! from Karen Retra on Vimeo.

I uploaded the video and some photos to BowerBird.org.au (see here) to see if I could get an ID and maybe find out more about the bees' behaviour.

Dr Walker identified them as Megachile ferox. He also let me know via email that although he would expect to find this species in our area, the reason it hadn't shown up on the PADIL website (where I'd looked to try to find the species) was that there weren't records of these bees here! He shared a map that showed dots representing their sightings around Melbourne and Canberra, but a big gap for around here.

Image: Dr Walker's screen shot, taken from the distribution map for Megachile ferox on PADIL.

Woo hoo, I'm chuffed to have put a new dot on the map! Or as Dr Walker put it, to have "filled an articificial distribution gap".

Oh, and if you're wondering what Dr Walker had to say about the 'scuffle', he confirmed these were male bees and they were likely "vying for prime positions for females to see them and be attracted".

I'm keeping watch too ... I sure hope to witness more bee action as the season progresses and to get some expert help to know what it is I've seen!

Do you know the ones I mean? They are 'hover' by name and they hover by nature - often appearing to be suspended mid-air, typically above a flower, or when disturbed. They'll dart quickly forward or sideways and then resume hovering. There are a variety of species of hover flies, though I think the ones I'm seeing are the common hover fly. They vary a bit in size, though are distinctly smaller than honeybees (7mm to 20mm long), with a slim yellow body and black markings. They are flies, but are thought to be mimicking the look of bees or wasps. It also means they don't sting!

There are a few key things to look for when identifying hoverflies.

• They don't appear to be hairy when viewed with the naked eye (where both honeybees and many native bees often do).
• They will feed on pollen and nectar from a flower, but do not actively collect pollen on their legs or abdomen, as many bees do. Though sometimes they do end up with a dusting, inadvertently.
• Their antennae are shorter than those of bees and you might not notice them at all.
• They have the typical fly characteristic of often having their wings 'out' when resting on a flower, where a bee will usually rest its wings along its back. Though they both mix it up a bit, so there are regular exceptions to that generalisation. In fact, flies only have one set of wings, where bees have two ... but if you can tell the difference as they buzz by, you're doing a lot better than me.
• And hover flies have those classic, 'fly eyes'. I think they look like a sci-fi feature. And red in color, in the species I see (above).

I adore and am fascinated by native bees, however I certainly recognise the vital role that hover flies, and many other pollinators, play in our systems. So while some folks are disappointed when I suggest what they've seen is a hover fly, there are many reasons we should all be thrilled and grateful for the presence of hover flies.

A quick overview includes that hover flies:

• Include species native to Australia (although not all are);
• Are pollinators (just like European honeybees and Australian native bees, and many other species; including pollination of many of our food crops and those we feed to livestock);
• The larvae of hover flies are also partial to munching on sap-sucking insects … to [cheekily] extrapolate a renowned Bill Mollison quote … you don't have an aphid problem, you have a deficiency of hover fly larvae! Yep, hover flies can help control other critters that are causing crop or garden damage;
• And, being less temperature sensitive than most native bees and many other pollinators, hover flies are active pretty much year-around in our area, albeit not in quite the peak numbers we're seeing currently. This means they are on the job for pollinating and pest control even when native bees and many other species are not.

I reckon say "g'day and thanks" to a hover fly today … and locally this spring, you won't have to look far to find them.

Between Tuesday November 5th and Thursday November 7th Dr Walker will again be sharing his knowledge of native bees, as well as encouraging the use of the BowerBird.org.au website, for obtaining expert ID and reporting your sightings of flora and fauna. And you don't have to go to Melbourne to join in!

He'll be presenting in Albury, at Wirraminna and in Wangaratta, so there are many opportunities to find a session that works for you.

Seats are limited so please book in. Entry is by gold coin donation.

Image: Talks, walks and gawks flyer. Click on it or here to view as PDF.

Previously, I spotted what I thought were native leafcutter bees in our garden in summer. Here's a pic, and a short video (16 seconds) to show their size relative to a honeybee.

Video: Leafcutter native bee and honeybee on melon flower

The leafcutter bees here were particularly interested in the rockmelon flowers, but were also seen visiting several other plants. Somewhat intriguingly, there was no sign in our garden of their 'leaf-cutting' behaviour, where they cut circles from leaves with which to build their nests. They particularly like rose and buddleia leaves apparently. I'm sure I'm in the minority when looking for the tell-tale "circular cut out" from a leaf that would indicate their activity. For many gardeners, a hole out of a favorite plant leaf means a "pest" not a positive.

Back to Build-It Bloke's find ... the hole in the sleeper was quite big (the diameter varies between 1cm and 3cm), and within it there were three leaf 'tunnels'. The bees carry the leaf cut-outs to the nest and form them into a sort of cigar-like outer shell. They have a diameter of about half a centimetre. See the photo below. Inside them the bee lays their eggs and leaves a pollen patty as food for their young (larva) to eat. Two 'tunnels' inside this sleeper were empty, but one was still closed ... we'll be watching to see if any leafcutter bees emerge when the weather warms up.

The wonderful folks at Wirraminna Environmental Education Centre at Burrumbuttock are hosting "the Birds and the Bees" - a biodiversity themed event on Sunday August 26th. If you'd like to hear from some experts (Dave Watson of Charles Sturt Uni and Lou Bull, landscape designer and permaculture teacher at the National Environment Centre) as well as an enthusiast (me!), please check out the stunning flyer below and consider coming along.

Now back to the exciting stuff ... the eight finalists' videos are all available for viewing online AND you can vote for your favorite in a 'people's choice' award any time between now and 5pm next Monday (1st July 2013). See below for details.

It was wonderful to watch all the films on the 'big screen' last night and to delight in the images and the tales they told. I've got an especially soft spot for those made by and featuring people I know ... the Permi8 and Seed Savers group members (and their amazing children) were very well represented across several films. Nikita Tabuteau is an inspiring amateur photographer and friend of mine. And the winner of the open category, Lizette Salmon, whose film features her parents' absolutely awe-inspiring revegetation project of more than 30 years, was a most deserving winner of the top award.

Honestly, well done to everyone - a wonderful, local celebration by all.

I hope you're keen to view all the films for yourself, and indeed, to cast your vote for the 'people's choice'.

Here's the official run down, from Sam Niedra of S2S, today:

"Please view the winning films by clicking the following link - https://vimeo.com/album/2435782. Please help spread these fabulous local films via Facebook, Twitter, email, or whatever means available. They deserve to be seen and heard!

OPEN CATEGORY
1st – Galateah  LIZETTE SALMON
2nd - Get a buzz from backyard biodiversity  KAREN RETRA [yikes, really?!]
3rd - Wonga Wetlands NICHOLAS  WILKE

SCHOOLS CATEGORY
1st - Biodiversity in Albury CASPER LINSSEN, Albury High School
2nd - Biodiversity in the S2S region JOSEPH BURTON, St Patrick's Parish School Albury
3rd - Biodiversity NIKITA TABUTEAU, Charles Sturt University (Albury Wodonga Campus)

Honorable mentions also go to Neil Druce’s ‘The Forgotten Ones’(https://vimeo.com/65771183) and the Friends of Woomargama National Park’s film about the reserve and the great work they do ( https://vimeo.com/66631860 ). Both films were finalists in the Open Category but missed out on a prize.

People’s Choice Award:
As mentioned last night, there is a People’s Choice Award which requires you the audience to decide which of the 8 films screened is your top pick. Please email sam@nct.org.au  by 5pm next Monday (1st July) with your vote (1 vote per person). The votes will be tallied and the winner announced next week.

Finally, the Slopes to Summit (S2S) partnership would like to thank again all the film makers for their amazing passion, effort, and talent! We’d also like to thank to the competition sponsors – NSW Government’s Environmental Trust, CSU Green, Foto Supplies Camera House, and Sony - and the Regent Cinemas for hosting the screening. Special mention should also go to Justin Dallinger (Foto Supplies) for presenting the awards, and CSU student Jack Fry who helped out with the evening on his first day’s work experience with Nature Conservation Trust. "

And just in case you're keen to size up my effort, you'll find it via the above link, as well as below - it runs for just over four minutes.

Video: https://vimeo.com/album/2435782/video/67534827

Be sure to have your thinking cap on for future S2S bioflix competitions ... the results above go to show that even first-time 'film makers' can play a role in sharing local stories and celebrating biodiversity!

As many of you know, that artist was my friend Joanne Diver. The landscape designer was Phillip Johnson. And the garden he was working on was the Australian garden for the Chelsea Flower show. And that's really just the start of the fairy tale.

Joanne's sculpture was shipped to the UK earlier this year, but there was no guarantee it would be used in the garden. Joanne was thrilled but in a quandary ... should she go to the UK? What if she stayed home and her sculpture did feature in the garden? Or if she went to the UK and the sculpture didn't get a start?

Joanne bit the bullet - she took her whole family to the UK earlier this month. Joanne and her husband Ian spent two days behind the scenes at Chelsea installing her scuplture, as well as assisting to construct the Australian garden. She says it's an experience she'll never forget. And to cap off the fairy tale, the judges awarded the Aussie garden not only a gold medal, but best garden in show! Woo hoo - that's huge!

Photo: The Bee Inn, on right hand side, installed in the Australian Garden. Image courtesy of Joanne Diver.

You can read more about Joanne's journey on her facebook page (you don't need to be a facebook user to view the content) - http://www.facebook.com/TheBackyardGardenEnthusiast. A recent update gives you some background as to where all the recovered and recycled components of the sculpture were sourced. And about a little role Build-It Bloke played in the mix, too. Not to mention, the page discusses how it all came to be.

Joanne has also featured in the Border Mail and been on ABC radio several times during the course of her adventure (see here and here for related content). And we can't wait to hear her reports back about the rest of the Chelsea Flower Show and other events she's been along to. 

Hearty congratulations to the Trailfinders Australian Garden presented by Flemings for their achievements in this historic 100th Chelsea Flower show, and apparently Wes Fleming's very last Chelsea garden. And hats off to Joanne, whose hard work and gumption played a far bigger part in this story than my 'fairy tale' version gives credit to!

As a follower of the show from the opposite side of the planet (yup, via the event app, twitter and media coverage I can pretend I'm also at Chelsea) I've spotted at least three other bee and insect habitat features in gardens on display (see here, here and here)  ... and I'm pretty confident there are even more! 

Q: What if other species, like wasps or spiders, take up residence in the bee hotel or your garden?

A: We'd be thrilled! After all, even if you don't "like" wasps and spiders, they play a crucial role in the ecosystem - in terms of what they predate on and what they are food for, particularly. We might think we'd like to live in a world without spiders (well, actually not me, even though I have a very healthy respect for them; but I think many people would consider it a great option). But then we'd complain about all the flies or the lack of birds (that relied on them as food) and so forth.

We're up for encouraging as much insect diversity in our garden as we can, because it provides resilience and helps ensure a balance between all the functions. Many of our 'pest' species are only pests because we humans created the conditions that enabled them to become so and in turn out-compete the local species. Be that through introducing species with no natural predators, destroying native habitat, the flow-on effects of losing species elsewhere in the ecological web, reduced food sources, poisoning them ('good guys' die if we spray, even when the intention is to get rid of the 'bad guys') and so on.

Sure, we'll discourage spiders from taking over the insect hotel (but creating special habitat for them is a great alternative). And there are some wasps we're not very fond of, because they are aggressive. For example, European wasps and paper wasps. But the insect hotel doesn't provide the sort of homes those guys like, so it's not encouraging them as such.  

Photos: Even though these visitors to the 'hotel' appear to be solitary wasps, I don't mind!

Q: Can you harvest honey from native bees (or your bee hotel)?

A: No, the bees we're aiming to encourage are solitary. Generally each female will nest in her own tunnel or hole. They build a nest, lay eggs and leave food (nectar, pollen) for the young before sealing the hole. If you fancied trying to extract their food from their nests it might be less than a gram at a time, not the potentially kilograms of honey per frame that honeybee keepers get from a hive. Having said that, being solitary doesn't necessarily mean they want to live in isolation - hence they can be happy to nest in holes near others of their own or other species. With 1,500 plus species of Australian native bee, it's not surprising to learn there can be quite a bit of variation between their nesting preferences, mating habits, extent they work together and so forth. 

There are some species of native bee that are social. That is, they live in a colony and co-operate like honeybees do. Unfortunately, our climate is too cold in winter to sustain them (without artificial heat) so keeping those is generally done by people living further north in Australia. They seem to be increasing in popularity to keep and also have featured in some mainstream media like gardening programs (Costa's got some) and magazines.  

Q: Do native bees sting?

A: Some do and some don't. But a sting is pretty unlikely as they'll only sting in defence. If you're flat out spotting them in the garden (and I hope you are looking out for them!), then you're not likely to accidentally step on or grab one. 

Behold this little ornamental bee hotel! It would've been a perfect decoration for a Christmas tree (if we had one). It's another of Joanne Diver's creations, this one featuring silver birch and wire. It's about 8cm long and 7cm in diameter. And it has an extra embellishment of 'I love bees', just in case you were in any doubt as to my obsession. 

I'm finding it hard to decide where to put it. It looks great inside, but I should probably share it and see if any critters would like to have it as a home somewhere in the garden.

Many thanks Joanne, I adore it.

It features locals' tales of, and reflections on, Eucalypts from Mt Kosciuszko to the Murray River at Albury. If you give it a whirl, you may recognise the Albury-based 'backyard beekeeper' adding her two cents to the mix, as well as some far more eminent local identities.

Snow Gums to River Reds from Slopes2Summit (S2S) on Vimeo.

What do you see when you see a gum tree? This is the central question in 'Snow Gums to River Reds' , a 25 minute film about the Eucalyptus species from Mount Kosciuszko to the Murray River around Albury, in New South Wales, Australia. The film has been produced by the Slopes2Summit (S2S) conservation partnership and Mosquito Productions. S2S is part of the Great Eastern Ranges Initiative (GER), Australia's largest conservation initiative spanning 3,600km along eastern Australia. The film was made possible through a financial gift form the Bjarne K Dahl Trust, a philanthropic body entirely committed to Eucalypt research, conservation, and community education. The film was completed in November 2012, and tells a story of a handful of the 30 or so Eucalypts found in the area, through the people who live and work along the route from Australia's highest peak to the banks of the Murray River.

Not only are bug/bee/insect homes an easy project (I made ours!) and a great way to encourage biodiversity in your garden, but they can be ornamental as well.

Below is a stunning one Lea Casey made. Lea told me before she started that she thought it may even be "a 5 star tower block complete with gym, bar and swimming pool"; and I think it's all that! Something I'm yet to do is create some sections filled with soft mortar, so as to offer homes for the insects who like to dig holes for their nests, like blue banded bees.

Another artistic friend, Joanne Diver, entered a "Bee Inn" in the Rutherglen sculpture trail this year, and was awarded an honorable mention.

Joanne has also made some other smaller ones for backyards which she's selling at the Albury Twilight Markets, so if you want one ready-made, get along to grab one of those!

Alternatively, if you're keen to make your own, there's plenty of information for reference. Radio National featured a grand 'bee motel' and interesting interview, featuring Honeycomb Valley Farm, Nabiac, which you can listen to here. The people who created this bee motel have a native bee sanctuary (among other interesting sustainable living features and farm stay). And there are a whole load of fantastic fact sheets by Valley bees, which you can view and download here. Instructions for creating bee habitat and homes are among them.

Some of the gardening and lifestyle shows/magazines have also had good insect and native bee habitat items, including Gardening Australia, Organic Gardener, Better Homes and Gardens and Grass Roots. Millie Ross has been an advocate for some time; here is an article from 2010, while her recently released book, The Thrifty Gardener, also contains a how-to.

It's been quite some time since I first read about 'bee hotels', and added it to our 'to do someday' list. In recent years my interest has been furthered through the designs and pictures provided by groups like the Australian Native Bee Research Centre's excellent publication Native Bees of the Sydney Region, their website and the AN Bees e-group.

While bee-watching at our place, I realised that we already had a host of artificial nest sites for native bees in the form of the re-used timbers that make up structures all through our backyard. Their cracks and crevices, plus empty nail and screw holes, are all of interest to a whole host of critters. Bees, wasps, spiders, earwigs, and many more. The more I looked, the more I saw. Yes it's obvious now, but I just hadn't taken the time to pay attention previously.

To supplement these many other holes, we made a native bee hotel.

It's a wooden planter box, mounted sideways on a pole, about 1.6 metres off the ground.

• Inside are hardwood offcuts drilled with holes of varying diameters between 4mm and 9mm.
• The holes aren't quite the recommended depth (150mm or more), however nor are the holes elsewhere in the backyard that appear to be functioning as homes. Ours are the length of an average drill bit!
• In the gaps are lengths of bamboo.
• I tried lining some of the holes with baking paper which allows you to remove the contents, if desired. But I only managed to do so in some of the bigger holes and left the rest without.
• And to give some protection from the elements, we gave it a roof using a scrap of laserlite.

Within a couple of hours of putting it up there was interest from potential residents. Quite a few native bees and some wasps checked it out, and some moved in. When my identification skills are better I hope to let you know more precisely which species they are!

If you come across a native bee that's looking for a wood nesting hole, feel free to direct them to our backyard. Or add to the critter habitat at your place and you, too, can enjoy watching to see who moves in.

Keen to know more? You'll find additional posts about bee hotels and insect homes on our blog here, here and here. That third one includes a link to a video that ran on national tv! Go on, take a squiz.

click for larger view. I know it's late notice, but it is very exciting that this award-winning movie will screen this Saturday night in Thurgoona. It's all about bees!

Here's the low-down:

QUEEN OF THE SUN: What Are the Bees Telling Us? is a profound, alternative look at the global bee crisis. Taking us on a journey through the catastrophic disappearance of bees and the mysterious world of the beehive, this engaging and ultimately uplifting film weaves an unusual and dramatic story of the heartfelt struggles of beekeepers, scientists and philosophers from around the world including Michael Pollan, Gunther Hauk and Vandana Shiva. Together they reveal both the problems and the solutions in renewing a culture in balance with nature.

You can watch the trailer or read more about it on the movie's website at www.queenofthesun.com.

Tim Malfroy will be in town for the sold-out Natural Beekeeping Course and has arranged a licence to screen the movie while he's here. The details are below. Please RSVP if you plan to attend so the room and chairs can be arranged accordingly.

When:6pm, Saturday October 15th. The movie runs for just under an hour and a half.

Arrive from 5:45pm, we'll start the screening promptly at 6pm. 

Where: National Environment Centre (TAFE), 97 Ettamogah Rd, Thurgoona.

Easiest access is via Elizabeth Mitchell Drive, see map.

Cost:Gold coin donation

To RSVP or find out more contact Karen on 0428 629 099 or email karenretra@gmail.com.

The lovely Allison Jess was intrigued and probably somewhat bemused by the idea of creating bee forage maps. So she dropped in to have a chat about them and get a piece of the action.

The resulting video can be seen on the ABC Goulburn Murray website and the audio will also air on radio this week.

The idea of a bee forage map is to see what’s within the range of a particular hive or site. I’d read about them online, but when Tim Malfroy discussed them at the natural beekeeping course, I added it to my ‘to do real soon’ list. Honey bees will most commonly fly one to two kilometres from their hive to forage, but can range as far as five kilometres, depending on the quality and quantity of forage on offer.

To kick off my map, I visited http://bees.morkland.org/coverage/. This site offers a handy tool that draws five concentric circles, to indicate one to five kilometres, from any location you nominate.

Let’s say you plan to keep bees on the roof of the Albury library museum. Below is how the map would look. It’s overlayed on a google map, so on the site you can zoom, view the satellite image and move around within it. 

Source: Google map generated by http://bees.morkland.org/coverage/

From here, and still working at about that 5km radius scale, I roughly marked on my map where I thought the potential forage areas may be. Remnant and planted native vegetation, parks, reserves and gardens (this is an urban area) are all in the mix. As Rob Fenton reminded me, things that might be barriers or threats to the bees can also be added. My reading hasn’t yet got into detail about how bees respond to freeways or airports, but has included some of the problems that some practices may have (like spraying of orchards and locust control). I noted these on my map as well.

Here’s what our practice site’s map might look like with these details added (click on the map for a larger view). 

From there I decided to ‘zoom in’ to create a more detailed picture of the 1km zone surrounding my hive. First, I used a satellite map. The google one is good, but for Albury the nearmap.com ones are even more detailed. I like that you can view different satellite images over time and the resolution means you can use it to label individual trees (should you so desire!).

For example, Noreuil Park, Albury, looks like this on nearmap (click the picture to go to larger version on their site):

I’m using the satellite map to help me identify plants in the area. Of course that can’t all be done while sitting at a computer screen, so I’ve been out in the neighbourhood to ground check what’s there. For now I’m focussing on species at our place and public land, but clearly in an urban area other people’s backyards may contain some valuable forage species too.  

I’m having a great time collecting this information. It helps me pay attention to what’s there and it’s a great excuse to work on my plant identification skills, not to mention just spend some time in the neighbourhood. I take the camera with me, and when I’m unsure of a plant I take pictures of the leaves, bark, buds, flowers and whole plant, to help me research it when I return. (Or ask my plant-smart friends!). 

Admittedly, identifying and mapping every plant within one kilometre is a pretty big job (let alone my plans to map to 5km). It will be an ongoing project. And, to make it more manageable, I’m focussing initially on plants the bees are actually visiting.  Yep, the bees are showing me what to take notice of. After all, it’s the species they visit I am trying to track. Besides, plant identification without a flower is usually harder than with it! As the bees’ focus changes through the seasons, so will mine!

Read on for more about bee forage.

I’m also drawing on the research of others. For example, the Flowering ecology of honey producing flora in SE Australia report (free to download as a PDF from here) includes data gathered from commercial beekeepers across south-eastern Australia as to which species flower when (and how frequently – many native plants do not flower every year), whether the bees use them for nectar or pollen, and the perceived quality of each of them. That’s a handy resource for me, and also something to compare my own, locally-specific data with as I gather it!

Why am I using a spreadsheet? It’s just my tool of choice. You could record this information any number of other ways. I like the flexibility spreadsheets offer in terms of manipulating data, drawing charts and the like. Besides, it seems I’m developing a reputation for being a spreadsheet junkie, so I may as well live up to it, right?!

The table above (click on it for larger view) is a simplification of what I’m doing. The blue shading represents the weeks the plant is in bloom. This could come from observations of when the plants have flowered, or projections using books, the internet, plant tags or seed packets, for when they are expected to flower. Of course, I have more than ten plants. But hopefully you can see this is a wonderful visual tool to help identify when there might be fewer plants flowering. I’m further color coding mine (of course!), to allow me to see not just what is flowering, but when the flowers are offering pollen and/or nectar. If I keep at it, I’ll also be able to compare the data across years and with my other records like how well my fruit and vegetables were pollinated or how much honey the bees produced.

How can bee forage maps and data be used in beekeeping?

They can help to identify potential lean (or boom!) times for the bees. For example, if they are dependent on a few species at a particular time of year, I might try to increase my own plantings to help ‘fill’ that gap. Similarly, I might try to provide some insurance, in the form of alternate forage sources, against particular challenges like drought or years with lower nectar flows.

For beekeepers who move their hives, mapping bee forage can help schedule their moves and choose locations that take advantage of the best forage.

I can’t provide all the forage a colony of bees require within our property, nor could I confine the bees to that property even if I wanted to. The bees’ ability to roam is part of the attraction of beekeeping in an urban area. By increasing my knowledge of which species offer which types of forage and when, hopefully I’ll have a picture that gives me early warning of forage shortages and the ability to plant to help overcome those threats. 

And it’s not just about honey bees ...

While I’ve called this a bee forage mapping exercise, of course I’m actually collecting data that can be used for a range of purposes. In the process of regularly observing which flowers are attracting honey bees (and whether they are gathering pollen or nectar from them), I’m also building up a resource that notes which other pollinators are visiting flowers, what they are doing while there, whether the species seem to interact.

I also hope to apply the knowledge I gain to encourage other species. The flowering pattern records may help me plant to better provide for native pollinators, beneficial insects and birds, as well as honey bees.

While my approach will sound like a lot of effort to some, even drawing a simple sketch map and thinking a little about bee (and other pollinator) forage patterns, as well as the plants and their locations can be a valuable tool for your garden, biodiversity and the pollinators.

Note that critters is an endearing term as far as we're concerned.

First, Build-It Bloke was the very happy recipient of a digital microscope from Kris Kringle at Christmas. Although it is fairly basic, the world that its 50-400x lenses capture (with web cam for recording the moment!) is well beyond what we can see with the naked eye. Nothing is safe from scrutiny around here. Dead lice, flies, spiders and locusts have all been given the once over. Likewise human hair, dust and mould, to name but a few more. There's no depth of field to the pictures, so they tend to look more impressive in real time than captured as a still. I assure you critter identification has never been this much fun before, nor as educational!

Second, the seemingly tropical weather this summer saw far more bugs in the garden than usual. Interestingly, for the most part the number of "bad bugs" has been pretty much matched by the number of "good bugs", though there are a few exceptions. Our bug management plan goes something along the lines of us (folk) being willing to share with them (the various critters), provided the plant is not being seriously harmed by the attack. We try not to use any treatment that's more harmful than the critter that we're 'treating'. That means we do a fair bit of "wait and see"-ing. We often use manual control (i.e. squishing things like pear/cherry slug, various bugs and caterpillars) because it avoids unintended effects on other critters or plants. Of course, this option is quite viable on our less-than-a-fifth-of-an-acre, but would be out of the question on larger properties and commercial crops. We also try to encourage natural predators of the pests. That is, we welcome the 'good' bugs ... but this year with all the newbies I'm not always sure who is who!

So far we've largely avoided the dreaded fruit fly this season (they got our nectarines, but unlike at our neighbours', they haven't got into anything else of ours yet). But it's not exactly plain sailing. We've got oodles of green vegetable bugs instead. They've had a royal feast on the tomatoes, so the fruit fly exclusion bags have become green vegetable bug exclusion bags. 

Green vegetable bug nymphs are black with colored dots (you can see the one on the left is starting to mature - it's bottom half is typical). They become all green as adults (right).

An orb spider that has caught a beeThe orb spiders have been spectacular. I'm not keen on walking into their webs unexpectedly, but it is impressive how many there are this year and the intricacy of the webs they weave. One of the largest at our place caught and ate three bees within an hour ... though I'd personally prefer if it stuck to eating mozzies. I find the webs quite fascinating, some are essentially 2D while others are 3D. So too the way they wrap their prey and then hang it all in a line - presumably adding to their series of snack-packs ready for eating?Or perhaps they are showing off their catch to impress? Or is it just neat-web etiquette [netiquette!]? 

We've also had a few hawk moth visits. They are quite large (5-8cm body) with a proboscis nearly twice its body length. When not in use, it curls it up in a spiral next to its mouth. They seem to come out at dusk, so catching them on film (sorry, memory card!) isn't easy. That's my excuse for the less-than-perfect focus in these pics, anyway.

"It's ok, I've brought my own straw!"

And a neighbour kindly brought over this spider wasp (Cryptocheilus bicolor, perhaps?). He was keen to ID it after being stung saving it from his dogs. Apparently female wasps in this family will paralyse spiders as big as huntsmen, drag them to their nest, then lay their eggs and the spider becomes the wasp larvae's first food source. Wow! 

I've noticed a few of these in the garden and will continue to leave them alone! It was pretty though and quite large, I think the body was at least 3.5cm long. There's an overview and more pics of spider wasps on this webpage (Australian Museum), as well as plenty of others, if you would like to know more.

Oh, and while we're on the subject of critters, I have to mention a recent TED talk. It's by an entertaining Dutchman, Marcel Dicke, discussing "Why not eat insects?". It runs for just under 17 minutes. Take a look if it appeals (or disgusts!). There sure is a lot of protein in our garden at present, when you look at it through his eyes.

If you missed it, you can access the flyer here to view it at a readable size!

As part of the project, Bill Busters also hosted two free public information sessions. One focussed on home energy use, understanding electricity bills and how to reduce them. The other covered various approaches to reducing the energy consumption of home swimming pools. Both sessions were well attended.

The Border Mail featured four articles covering the challenge (see below). Click on the pictures to read the articles in full. Please be patient, they are large files and may take a little while to load.

It’s also interesting to note that Bill Busters was a joint project that brought together our local paper (the Border Mail), local government (Wodonga Council), a state government agency (Vic Department of Planning and Community Development) and a local community group (WATCH - Wodonga and Albury Towards Climate Health). That collaboration alone is well worth celebrating ... the success of the whole project makes for very sweet icing on the cake!

Meet the Participants - Sat 9 OctThe assessment reports - Sat 30 Oct

Participants taking action - Sat 27 Nov

The results - Sat 1 Jan

We had to wait for suitable warm weather for the bees to arrive and enable us to open the hive. Eddie, the beekeeper, and I both donned protective veils and overalls and I admit being a little nervous when he said gloves were unlikely to be required. He lit the smoker, but didn't use it beyond applying a little smoke to his hands. The bees were remarkably unconcerned about Eddie removing and inspecting each of the frames from the hive. He showed me the different activities going on - workers, drones, larvae, brood, honeycomb and, after a bit of searching, the queen. (A lovely Italian bee who is apparently in good shape and laying well ... exactly what you'd hope she's doing at this stage). I, too, held the frames with my [still bare] hands, and there was not even a hint of threat that I might be stung. It was fantastic.

We added a second super (box) to the first, and Eddie expects they'll be ready for the third one in about a month. This is essentially expanding the living quarters for the bees. Hopefully they'll find it suited to their needs and stay rather than swarm. I also had lesson one in 'bee pests and diseases' so I can keep an eye on things, and with that, I think I have commenced my beekeeping apprenticeship!

We've located the hive at the bottom of the block, where there's a three metre drop under the bees' 'flight path' into the hive ... so no one will unintentionally wander into their way. We checked that our neighbours were ok with the idea before they arrived. Our council permits beekeeping in town, and the hive is registered with the DPI. Eddie thinks they'll find it to be a good spot, with the River Red Gums along the Murray only about a kilometre away, some other native vegetation along the nearby hilltops and lots of variety from the suburban gardens in the vicinity. He says the bees will happily forage up to five kilometres from the hive.

The reactions from people when I say we've recently added a beehive to our suburban menagerie fall broadly into two categories. The first involves a horrified look, a negative exclamation, often mention of allergies and you can almost hear the mental note being made to themselves not to come anywhere near our backyard in future. The second is more positive, usually includes reference to fresh honey and frequently the comment that their parent/grandparent/friend/neighbour is or was a beekeeper.

Why am I so excited about having a beehive in the backyard? Well because it's taking our previous efforts to attract bees, through planting and a half-hearted plan to provide native bee habitat, to a whole new level. For us, the big draw card bees offer is the pollination of our fruit, vegetables and other plants. They may also provide honey, beeswax, mead or other bonuses, but those are secondary to the pollination. While for most of our consumption we have to rely on sourcing from 'responsible' producers (at best), we are keen to take some of that responsibility ourselves, like we do when growing some food and keeping chooks. We'll know the conditions the bees were kept in and how any honey or other by-products have been produced and processed.

I'm busy reading up (books and online), comparing notes with friends and arranging to learn more from both Eddie and other beekeepers. We're also growing additional bee attracting plants and are still keen to encourage the native bees too (the blue banded ones are exquisite) ... hopefully we can accommodate both. Oh, and I'm mesmerised every day as I watch the bees leave and return to the hive and go about their business (or is that buzziness? Hey, I resisted all the puns until then, but I'm only human!).