Bees

I have mentioned before how we have a beehive.  They are not the European bees, but the Australian stingless bees.  They are tiny.  In fact, when the hive is split, and if there are enough of them, they are likely to get into your eyes.
They actually do sting, but it is more like a mosquito bite than anything.  Unlike European bees they don’t die after having stung.  It seems to me the greatest risk to them from humans (apart from loss of habitat) is they are likely to be swiped before it is known what was buzzing around.
Unlike their European cousins they hardly produce any honey.  They do, but it is a really small amount.  I mentioned habitat before.  A lot of the nests come from trees that are cleared.  If fortunate, the developer rings an enthusiast and the hive (in hollow logs) is collected.
We have had a hive about five years.  We got it from a guy in Brisbane.  He had heaps.  Bringing the hive home was an adventure.  I needed to surround the hive in a cloth cover.  That was the way to avoid having a heap of bees flying around in the car while I was trying to drive.
The good thing for us is, the bees tend to look after themselves.  They have a few predators (like wasps) but they are clever with the tunnel to the hive.  It is not straight, so if anything enters defenders go to work all the way along the tunnel which gives time at the very least.
There are a number of breeds in Australia.  They don’t get along.  A friend of ours has a hive several streets away.  They are like tough guys.  If there was a fight they’d win.  But ours has been going a while now.  We have seen them swarm.  We found out the other day that is the sign of a fight.  Just as well I am not doing the backing, as when I back things they often lose.
Someone came the other day and split our hive and sold us another.  Apparently, some of the eggs are “princesses in waiting.”  Once it is established there are some of these (their egg colour is slightly different) then that portion of the hive can be set up elsewhere.  Bees align themselves with that hive and the building and populating and defending starts again.
Merril and I had talked about dividing our hive for a long time, but it had not happened.  It has happened now and we are really happy.  We were told if after about two weeks there was no sign of activity, there was a good chance the hive had not taken.  We were pleased to see activity after like one day.
We have the new hive on an upside-down pot.  Merril has a bowl with rocks near it that is moist.  They can have a drink there if they want one.  That is new.  Merril saw an example on a bee site.
Looking out for the insects and birds is one of Merril’s first activities of the day.  She checks the worms are ok, and then looks at both beehives before making sure the birds that visit are ok.  Merril likes to look out for these critters.  We had an insect house for ages and the only thing missing were insects.
We think our place is liked by the critters (though the insect house was a flop).  We try to make our place insect and animal friendly anyway.