Do native bees make honey?
Australia’s 1,500 or more species of solitary bees do not store any honey in their little nests but only collect tiny amounts of nectar to feed their young. However, Australia s ten species of social native bees do make and store small amounts of a delicious aromatic honey. This honey has a different, more tangy flavour than commercial bee honey and is stored by the bees in small resinous pots which look like bunches of grapes. We do not usually recommend that people try to get honey out of native bee nests. These bees are primitive species and do not make much honey. In cooler areas they need all their honey to get through the winter months. Furthermore, if even a small amount of honey is spilt in the nest, the bees can drown in it. However, if special techniques are used in warm areas of Australia, honey production with the social native bees is possible. Click here for more details.
