Bees pollinate more than 80 per cent of the world’s flowering plants, according to a 2022 report into native bees by AgriFutures Australia.
While the European honeybee (Apis mellifera) gets most of the credit, there are more than 20,000 other bee species worldwide and research suggests the contribution of wild bees to pollination is even greater than that of the Apis genus.
With bees of all kinds increasingly under threat from pesticides, climate change, habitat loss and parasites such as the Varroa mite, native bees have been thrust into the spotlight.
Seemingly unaffected by Varroa and viewed as a saving grace for the planet, native pollinators have become the subject of growing fascination.
MELIPONICULTURE
While there are approximately 1700 native bee species across Australia, only 11 of these live in communal hives within a rigid, complex social structure like the European honeybee, which allows them to be moved
