The reward

 

This is native bee honey harvested from the hive of the previous post.

The hive produced a total of two jars like this, about 1 kg.

The native bee honey is less viscous than european honey bee honey. The taste is sweet with a citrus tang. Like honey bee honey the taste varies with the plants used to make it. Because the honey matures in pods made from a mixture of wax and resin it has favours and substances contributed from the resin. The antimicrobial activity of Tetragonula carbonaria honey has been measured to be higher than the famous Manuka honey.

It is delicious.

Drip, drip

 

The honey super has been flipped over to drain the honey out. The bees are still calmly wandering over the hive.

Next the honey is strained through a mesh sieve.

Can you smell the sticky sweetness?

Honey! Super!

The honey super - upside down

 Here I have placed the honey super (ie top level) from a native bee hive on a table and I am poking holes in the honey pots with a bamboo skewer. Soon I will flip the honey super over to allow the honey to pour out.

I intend to leave most of the propolis (mixture of bee wax and tree resin) so the bees can quickly rebuild.

The bees are still very calm - they are crawling around the hive and not flying in a defensive cloud.

The Hive

 

Open native bee hive (bottom section) - Tetragonula carbonaria 

These stingless bees build their brood  area in a spiral.

When weighed this native bee hive was over 9.5 kg. This meant that it was full of bees and full of honey.

The hive is made to be split in half to make two hives out of one.

The brood area was built as a spiral which is characteristic of Tetragonula carbonaria. The other stingless honey-producing species is Tetragonula hockingsi whose brood area is more higgledy piggledy. 

Around the brood area are pods made of propolis (a mixture of tree-resin and wax). In the photo some pods are broken showing either liquid honey or yellow pollen.

In this particular hive the honey pods are near the  main entrance (bottom of photo) and the pollen pods are towards the rear (top of photo) - This is the opposite of the usual arrangement. This hive was positioned so that the small rear vent was in a sunnier position for some of the year - the bees then preferred to use vent as the  as a main entrance.

I do not remove any honey from the bottom brood chamber. I only remove honey from the separate top chamber called a honey super.

Wild Guy

 

I once went bush waking (with a friend) through Guy Fawkes National Park. We camped at Marengo Creek near where it joins Guy Fawkes River in New South Wales : 30.125211 degrees South, 152.301443 degrees West.

I went for a swim in the creek in a large basin. The circular hole was made made by a fallen tree when its roots lifted from the earth. As I cooled off in the water up to my neck, small fish swam up and began to nibble at my skin - it was a strange tickling sensation and very enjoyable.

Thunder days

 

Thunder-days are an old measure of storm activity - The modern measure is lightning flash density.

The first map I used in the 1980's was hand drawn and black and white and old. It also showed Darwin with the highest activity with over 80 thunder days and Brisbane with slightly less.

The modern map shows Brisbane is not nearly as bad as for lightning as previously thought.

47 Years of Growth

Forty seven years ago the tree at the centre of the photo was as tall as me.

Also the park - Harrup Park - had no fence and no lights, it was an undeveloped cricket ground. 

Now there are turf pitches and boundary fences and grand stands. In the empty dark the bush stone-curlews would make their hauting calls. 

Tonight, behind the glare, cricket is being played. The stone-curlews are hiding in the adjacent streets.

Foxtail

In the 1980s a new species of palm was discovered in far North Queensland. In order tp protect the wild trees from poachers, many trees were grown and passed to local governments to plant in parks and to nurseries for sale to the public. 

In thr 1980s the bright red seeds were worth $50 each. Now they are ignored as they rot on the ground in the car park.

It is still a beautiful palm with lovelly seeds.

Drying Out

 

In the wet weather I set up a clothesline in the workshop. I set up a floor fan to reduce the drying time.

Leaf cutter

 Earlier in the year I noticed a bee - I think a native solitary bee - flying around the ferns like it was looking for something. So I took a tree branch out of the rubbish pile and drilled a hole in one end then put it with the ferns.

Now a leaf cutter bee has made a nest in the bore hole. I has laided eggs in the hole and made chambers with leaves.

Now I watch and wait.

Thunder Days

 

Now in Brisbane is the storm season. Days of thunder and lightning and hail. Usually my lilly pilly trees flower on the day just before the storm and the flowers are destroyed in the storm. however this year has been great for rain and the trees keep on flowing so after the storms there are more flowers.

Native Hibiscus

 

The usual colour for the native hibiscus flower is white, but I found this pink specimen. I grew several from cuttings and put one in a sunny spot in my garden. In the bush they can grow to 3 meters high or more.

Grey Butcher Bird

 

This Grey Butcher Bird may be the very one that was swooping me yesterday. Today he is visiting the bird bath I provided.

Swooping Season.

Around here it is spring. The local black and white birds - magpies, butcher birds and magpie larks - are intent on protecting their eggs and nestlings. They swoop individuals whom they dislike. They can rip ears and they have blinded people. I have seen a magpie chase a motorcyclist but it could not keep up at 50 km/hr. 

They have a particular dislike of cyclists. Wizzing around on my electric bicycle I have found 3 spots near my home where butcher birds attack. Like many cyclists I have modified my helmet with cable ties to protect my ears; I wear safety glasses to protect my eyes.

Harlequin

 

The cotton harlequin bug is fascinating in close-up.

Tree Removal

 

A young fig.

There are many large pest trees in the local environmental areas such as camphor laurels and african tulip trees. The local government while very keen to remove hollow native trees is slow to remove pest trees. They would be expensive to remove and the nearby residents often object to the trees being removed.

So the plan is to plant figs in the pest trees. The figs will strangle the pest trees to death over the next 50 years.

Nest Boxes

Nest boxes in the workshop

 

I have built over 40 nest boxes in the past 3 years. They are erected in local environmental areas. Many Australian birds, bats and marsupials need tree hollows to breed and to hide. The local government is very cautious and they remove hollow trees. So the animals must rely on boxes attached to sound trees. 

With practice I have become very efficient producing 3 or 4 at a time. The designs are still improving with experience - my early efforts were very attractive to European Honey Bees.

Towers of Stone

Someone at Takarakka camping ground at the entrance to Carnarvon Gorge is obsessed with balancing rocks. The are everywhere particularly in the river bed. I even found where some had been glued - surely cheating.

Making towers stops the stones from being shelter to plants and invertebrates. 

Winter home

An ear out for trouble

A possum - probably a brushtail - is using one of the nest boxes I made.

Qapla'

Hairpin Banksia

Banksia spinulosa var cunninghamii

The local environment group planted this Banksia about four years ago and it has already flowered. The site was tough - hard ground facing west and there was drought.

The natives grew up and made their own more hospitable environment. today the area is shady and flourishing.