Blue banded bees

Bzzzzz do you look closely at the bees in your garden? Have you noticed how many different types there are? We have over 1650 native species in Australia! Granted they won’t all be in your garden (or even your state) but there’s a lot more out there than your standard European honeybee.

One of the first native bees I noticed in my garden was the blue banded bee (Amegilla cingulata). They have bright iridescent blue stripes on their abdomen and can make quite a racket when they’re happily buzzing away. Like a number of other native bees, blue banded bees perform a special kind of pollination called buzz pollination. They land on the flower parts, hold on tight, and shake their little booty! (Ok, theoretically they vibrate their flight muscles, which are in their thorax, but that doesn’t sound as fun).

They make quite a racket when their buzz is amplified by the flower!

Some plants have specially formed anthers (called poricidal anthers) that enclose their pollen, with tiny openings too small for insects to get in to access it. When the flower is vibrated though, the pollen escapes. In some of these species (like tomatoes), the wind is often enough to shake some pollen free, but they still crop better when buzz pollinated. There are some Australian natives that require buzz pollination such as Guinea flowers (Hibbertia) and flax lily (Dianella). Another plant that’s buzz pollinated is the blue ginger (Dichorisandra thyrsiflora) and I can always find blue banded bees on mine.

Blue banded bees are solitary and don’t make hives. The females nest in shallow burrows in the ground, or in loose clay/mud bricks. Although each female builds her own nest, they still often build near each other, like a little village. The males ‘roost’ in small groups on stems, holding on with their jaws. The bees are only active during the warmer months and will die when the weather turns cold. When it warms up again, overwintered eggs will hatch and start the cycle again!