Blue Banded Bee

An Australian solitary nesting bee, they range in size from 10-12 mm long and have bands of metallic blue fur across their black abdomens.

Arguably one of the prettiest bees in the world, they’re found all over Australia (ex in Tas & NT.) and are also native to Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, East Timor, Malaysia, and India, and can be found in any region from urban areas to open fields and dense, tropical forests.

They are rumoured to be attracted to blue and purple flowers, with a fondness for lavender – possibly due to being able to blend in with their surroundings.

They can buzz pollinate! Some flowers (including quite a few Australian natives) hide their pollen inside tiny capsules. A Blue Banded Bee can grasp a flower of this type and shiver her flight muscles, causing the pollen to shoot out of the capsule. She can then collect the pollen for her nest and carry it from flower to flower, pollinating the flowers.

They nest in a shallow burrow in clay soil or sometimes in mudbricks. Cells, at the end of tunnels, contain an egg with a pollen/nectar mixture for the larval food.

Males cling to plant stems during the night. Males and females can be distinguished by the number of blue bands they display – males have five while the females have just four.

Threats: birds, frogs, cuckoo bees, cane toads and habitat loss due to urbanisation, pesticides.

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Bumble Bee

There are over 250 different species of bumblebees around the world and although they vary in appearance, they are generally larger than honeybees, with rounded abdomen tips and a body that is densely furry. They do not produce honey but are excellent pollinators.

Most bumblebees are social insects that form colonies ranging in size from 50-400 with a single queen per nest which is usually found underground.

Bumblebees can be found in most regions around the world (ex. Africa and Indian lowlands), but are most common in temperate climates.

They tend to have longer tongues than a honeybee making them more suited to collect nectar from flowers that are closed into a tube. Sizes are very variable even within species – the largest bumblebee species in the world can be found in Chile, and grows up to 40 mm (1.6 in) long, and are described as "flying mice" and "a monstrous fluffy ginger beast"! Queen and worker bumblebees can sting but unlike honey bees, their stinger lacks barbs, so they can sting repeatedly without leaving the stinger in the wound. Although the sting is painful to humans, they are usually not dangerous.

Threats: Habitat loss, disease and pesticides

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Leafcutter Bee

The leafcutter bee is a solitary nesting bee and its many different species can be found throughout the world. Common in North America, (in Florida there are approximately 63 different species), and in Australia – they can be found in both coastal and drier inland areas.

The first sign that you have a leafcutter bee in your garden will be neat crescent or almost circular-shaped holes in garden leaves, which are collected and used in their nests. But there’s no need to worry that they’re destroying your garden – in fact these little garden heroes are super pollinators. In fact, studies have shown that 1 leafcutter bee can pollinate the same amount as 20 honeybees! They collect pollen on the underside of their abdomens called a ‘pollen brush’ rather than on their hind legs and range in size from 6-15mm. These cute little bees are cavity nesters, choosing reeds, twigs or softwood in which to line with leaves or petals and lay their eggs.

Threats: Habitat loss and pesticides

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Metallic Green Carpenter Bee

The Green Carpenter Bee is a beautiful iconic bee species native to Australia and is sadly critically endangered. Thought to be mostly extinct on the mainland small colonies can still be found on Kangaroo Island. A beautiful jewel green in colour, they can grow up to 17 mm long and are friendly and harmless.

There are over 500 species of carpenter bees – the name is derived from their nesting behaviour – nearly all species burrow into hard plant material such as dead wood or bamboo. Mainly considered solitary nesting bees, some species have simple social nests in which mothers and daughters cohabit. Carpenter bees can be timber pests, and cause substantial damage to wood if infestations go undetected for several years. Commonly confused with bumblebees, you can tell them apart by their shiny abdomen, where a bumblebee’s abdomen is completely covered with dense hair.

Threats: Habitat destruction due to bushfires and urbanisation.

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Fire-tailed Resin Bee

The Fire-tailed Resin Bee is a native Australian solitary nesting bee that can be identified by their red or bright orange abdomen which stands out against their black body. Ranging in size from about 8 to 14 mm, they belong to the family Megachilidae and are found Australia-wide.

Resin Bees get their name from building their residences out of resin. Most Resin Bees build nests in narrow holes in timber but they may also use narrow crevices in other materials. They provision each nesting compartment with pollen and nectar before sealing the end of the hole with a mix of resin and mud and are a great candidate for taking up residence in a pollinator house. Similar to the leafcutter bee, they carry pollen on their abdomens in a ‘pollen brush’ and are extremely effective pollinators. Although they can sting if threatened, it is less painful than a honeybee.

Threats: Habitat loss, pesticides, other insects and birds.

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Sugarbag Bee

Most commonly thought of as Australian native bees, these cute little stingless bees live in colonies with a highly developed social structure comparable to honeybees. Each colony has one queen and thousands of workers who live together in one location – most commonly in a hollow tree. Although there are nearly 2000 native bee species in Australia, stingless bees are the only ones that make and store quantities of honey, but on a much smaller scale than European honeybees. The Sugarbag bee is mostly black and is around 4.5mm in length. One of 14 different species of stingless bees found in Australia, they build brood cells arranged in combs or semi-combs. The cells are a single layer of hexagonal combs that are built in a distinctive spiral. Mainly farmed for pollination and conservation rather than honey collection.

Threats: habitat loss and pesticides.

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Teddy Bear Bee

Teddy Bear Bees, also known as a Golden-Haired Mortar Bee, is an Australian native bee that resembles a bumblebee in shape and is covered in orange-brown fur with dark hairless bands on their abdomen. Ranging in length from 15-20mm, they are typically fatter looking than European honeybees and are non-aggressive. Although they are solitary nesters, they often build nests close together, with each female building an individual small burrow in the soil, often in creek banks, garden rubble or under a house. Found Australia-wide with the exception of Tasmania, they are buzz pollinators and play an important role in pollination. They have remarkably long tongues particularly suited to tubular-shaped wildflowers which may not be as accessible to honeybees.

Threats: Habitat destruction and pesticides.

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Mason Bee

These cute Mason Bees are often mistaken for ordinary house flies, but these special little insects are excellent pollinators and ones you’ll certainly want to keep around. Frequently metallic green or blue in colour, Mason Bees are found all over North America with 402 species in the United States. Solitary nesters, they do not have a social structure and gain their name from using mud or other masonry products to build their nests. 9-11mm in size, each Mason bee can do the pollinating work of 120 honey bees! They emerge from their nests in early spring when temperatures are still cold, and get an early start to pollinating before honeybees become active and fruit trees begin to bloom. As they do not create honey or have a colony to protect, they are generally docile and harmless and as they are non-territorial, they’ll often build nests right next to each other.

Threats: Habitat destruction and pesticides.

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Neon Cuckoo Bee

I’m not sure if this one will win any prizes for popularity…

The Neon Cuckoo Bee is a stunningly beautiful bee with a metallic blue sheen and slick, black wings, however, looks can be deceiving.

This species has evolved a parasitic lifestyle to ensure the survival of its offspring.

It preys on a similarly coloured native species, the Blue-banded Bee. When ready to lay eggs, rather than building a burrow nest of her own, she will seek out the burrow nests of female Blue-banded bees and lay her eggs here.

Her offspring will consume all the resources provided and will then leave the Blue-banded bee offspring to starve to death.

Found in New Guinea and throughout eastern and northern Australia, cuckoo bees range from 10-13 mm long and belong to the family Apidae and although they have their downside, they are still important pollinators and add to the diversity of our world.

Threats: Not listed as threatened.

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Honey Bee

The European Honeybee is the most recognisable of all bee species as they are most commonly farmed both for pollination and honey production. Their complex social structure and intelligence are widely studied – they live in colonies of approximately 40,000 strong with one queen and clear divisions of labour throughout the hive. They act as a superorganism with a “hive mind”, always working for the good of the colony above the individual. The first occurrences of domestication date back to before 2600 BC and have developed over time as an important part of human agriculture. These little pollinating powerhouses are responsible for a large percentage of our food crops and native plants. They have highly evolved navigational skills and communicate by dancing!

Threats: Pests, diseases, habitat destruction and pesticides.