What a month we’ve had. Our branch has bee’n busy preparing for our first native bee event and what a beeauty it was!
We attended the Northern Territory Caladium Festival 2023 on Saturday 18th & Sunday 19th of November to showcase our local stingless bee species and connect with the public.
Sharing a double stall with Jelly’s Beekeeping, we were kept on our feet with much interest and enthusiasm from all of the locals.
Barry brought in some T. mellipes honey for tasting and many of our visitors left disappointed that they couldn’t purchase a bottle to take home. The liquid gold was a big hit, with everyone savouring their tiny taste and bringing their better halves back to have a try.
Janelle had her most recent termite pump up pit res-cues on display and this provided our branch with an excellent opportunity to demonstrate the difference between regular brood cells and queen cells.
We got to chat with many locals who shared their expe-riences with native bees occupying cracks in the walls of their homes, worm farms, old car tyres, pot plants and more. Many of our guests knew they were native bees and knew they were harmless but didn’t know much more.
The stall was well received with plenty of people interested in learning more about the Australian Native Bee Association and joining our local branch. Hopefully we will see some new faces at our next catch up on Monday 4th of December.
Its bee’n well worth the effort and a big win for the NT branch. We’re now off to the bar fridge to have a cold one and celebrate the success with our little mates be-cause this top end heat and humidity has been a killer.
From Sherronna Nowland.
