In celebration of spring, Hume council hosted a native bee hotel workshop for Sunbury residents to house the town’s smallest residents with wings.
The workshop took place at the Sunbury Neighbourhood House, with Buzz and Dig founder and educator Katrina Forstner presenting the workshop.
Neighborhood house community development coordinator Cathy Grose said eight people attended the workshop, and everyone got to make at least one bee hotel to take home and put in their garden.
“Bee hotels can take a number of forms but they are basic structures that provide suitable space and materials native bees need to nest and for the young to develop and hatch,” she said.
“At the workshop [we made] them using clean, empty food grade cans and we tightly filled them with sections of dried plant material including parsley, kangaroo apple and bamboo stems.
“They’re important as our suburban environments are increasing, and reducing the natural environment including suitable plants and nesting sites that native bees and other insects would naturally use.”
With more than 1600 species in Australia, the hotels are also important for pollination of native plants and vegetables in gardens.
“[The hotels] should be located in a sunny position in your garden, around eye height, and slightly angled forward to allow any moisture to drain away,” Ms Grose said.
“Native bees only travel [up to] approximately 350 metres from their nests to their food sources, which is pollen from flowering plants.
“That’s why it’s important to have a range of flowering plants in gardens to support bees and other beneficial pollinators as they can’t travel long distances looking for flowers.”
Zoe Moffatt
