Native bees

Ku-ring-gai residents can apply to host a beehive each year. Native beehives are distributed to successful applicants to look after, or ‘foster’, on their property. The hives are very low maintenance. Residents are only required to keep an eye on the activity of the hive and keep the box dry.

Any concerns or problems, no matter how small, should be reported immediately to the Environmental Programs team. We will visit hives every two years in order to check the hive’s health and in some cases perform a split (see more information on this below).

From 2024 onwards residents will be able to foster a hive on a three-year rotation. When the foster period ends, the hive will be collected and allocated to another resident.

Should you wish to retain your hive at the end of the three years, you can purchase the hive at a reduced rate. For more details see our Native Beehive Program flow chart above.

Splitting hives

The hives are periodically split into two halves to create new colonies. Every hive distributed to residents remains the property of Council and a part of the Native Beehive Program. Residents with beehives will be contacted by Council to arrange the hive split every couple of years. Splitting the hive allows Council to create new hives for more residents. Please note, hives are only split to the requirements of the program, and not all hives will be split at each visit.

No hive will be split unless it is healthy and ready. The health of your bees is our primary concern, and we won’t risk any hive by splitting it prematurely.

A small number of hives are sold to people outside of Ku-ring-gai each year and these funds are put back into the program. More information on sales of hives can be found below. 

Yearly schedule

Early-August – Residents at the end of their foster period will have their hives collected. Residents will be contacted by email beforehand with instructions on how to prepare their hive for collection and to offer a selection of dates.

Late-August – Successful new applicants will receive their hives, beginning their three-year foster period.

September-November - The Environmental Programs team will visit residents registered with the program to check the health of their hive, and split hives if required. Newly created hives are kept at our nursery through their first winter to be distributed to residents the following August.  Visits are generally conducted on a two-year cycle, with those on the three-year foster period receiving a check-up at the start of their second year.

I am not a resident, can I get a hive?

The Native Beehive program is open to Ku-ring-gai residents only. However, people out of area can purchase a native beehive. See purchasing information below. All funds raised are returned to the native bee program.

Terms and Conditions

Hives remain the property of Ku-ring-gai Council.

Hives remain the property of Ku-ring-gai Council and as such you are not permitted to split the hive yourself, collect honey, or move the hive to another address (unless within the Ku-ring-gai area and with prior consultation with Council). At the end of the allotted three-year period, residents must allow Council to collect their hive. Failure to do so will result in the resident incurring the full cost of the hive ($550). If the hive is dead at the time of collection and Council was not informed prior, the resident will incur the full cost of the hive ($550.00). The option to purchase the hive (35% discount) at the end of the three-year period is open to all those fostering hives and is to be arranged before the end of the foster period. Council will contact all fosterers with this information prior to the end of their fostering period.

Should you be moving out of Ku-ring-gai you are required to arrange the return your hive to Ku-ring-gai Council. Failure to do so will result in the resident incurring the full cost of the hive ($550).

You must be a Ku-ring-gai resident to participate in the program.

How hives are allocated

Hives are only allocated to residents of Ku-ring-gai and only to those who complete the online application form.  Applications will be assessed on how well an applicant demonstrates the passion and enthusiasm to look after and cherish their native beehive. The health of our bees is of paramount concern, and we want to be sure that whoever receives one will look after it. Should there be more acceptable applications than available hives, hives will be allocated by drawing names out of a hat.

Hive availability

Please be aware that there is a limited number of hives available and that an accepted application does not guarantee you a hive. Hive availability is subject to the success of splitting seasons, which is dependent on prevailing weather conditions, and available resources.

Requirements of the program

The hive is to remain on the property of the person registering for a beehive. If you move outside of the Ku-ring-gai area, you must contact us to organise the return of the hive to the program (see above).

A condition of receiving a native beehive as a resident of the Ku-ring-gai Local Government Area (LGA) is that Council retains ownership of the hive and therefore the right to check and split the hive on a yearly or two-yearly basis. This usually takes place between September and November, and you will be contacted via email prior to the check and split taking place.

We will require safe access to your property to check and split the hive. If you are not comfortable or unable to provide Council staff with access to your property for hive maintenance, you will be unable to participate in the program and the hive will need to be collected and returned to the program.

At the end of the three-year allotted foster period, residents must allow Council staff to collect the hive and cooperate with them, or have opted to purchase the hive prior to this. Failure to do so will result in residents incurring the full cost of the hive ($550).

Please provide the details on registration about locked access and dogs on property to help us arrange a mutually convenient time to visit if locked, and for our staff safety.

Residents are required to be contactable via email. Please inform the program if you update your email address. If no contact is able to be made with participants, the hive may be removed from the property.

Please add wildthings@krg.nsw.gov.au to your address list so that the emails do not go to your spam folder.

The native stingless beehive program is extremely popular with our residents and every year we receive interest from schools and other institutions in Ku-ring-gai wanting to secure a hive of their own.

However, unlike residents, schools don’t get their hive through the Native Beehive Program but instead via our Environmental Levy Grants program.

Why don’t schools get included in the Native Beehive Program?

One of the important reasons is that access to the hive is often limited, especially during holiday periods, making it difficult for us to manage the hives in the same way as our residential ones. Additionally, the person responsible for the hive can change frequently as staff come and go, sometimes resulting in a breakdown in communication.

We also want to enable schools to secure hives when they are ready and not have to run the risk of missing out through the standard route. This is why we prioritise the use of our grant system for schools.

Grant applications for beehives and accompanying projects are viewed very favourably and we can help you with the process from start to finish.

Find out more about grants.

What are the advantages of the grant system?

1. Priority on hives - schools get priority on the new hives created each year. 
2. Ownership - through the grant system the school owns their hive, giving them freedom to do more with their hive and removing the obligation of having the hive split every two years.
3. Support - schools can access the expertise of Council, including guidance on looking after your hive, email bulletins, health checks and splitting services upon request.

For more information on our grants and other benefits for schools in Ku-ring-gai head to Smart Schools.

More than a beehive…

We don’t want to just drop off a stingless beehive and that be the end of our relationship, we believe that a stingless beehive can be the start of something far grander and more holistic, forming a part of a great learning resource for students. 

Native and edible gardens

Bees need flowers and an excellent accompaniment to your native beehive is native plantings. These also form habitat for lots of other beneficial insects and animals. Why not create a bee hotel? Or a pond as a resource for native frogs, fish, birds and reptiles? 

Speakers

At Council we also have a number of specialists in areas from insects to native plant life, with the ability to run specialist presentations and workshops upon request, all of which are free of charge subject to availability!

We encourage all schools, or any community or education group, to get in touch if they want to develop projects for native flora or fauna. Whether you’re a teacher, student, or educator, have some great ideas that you’d like Council’s help with, or just don’t know where to start, we’d love to hear from you. 

Contact us at wildthings@krg.nsw.gov.au

Each year about 10 volunteers join staff to split native beehives which are being fostered by residents. The work is seasonal and occurs from late September to early November each year. We welcome your help in this unique program.

Find out more and register here

Who can apply?

Any resident of Ku-ring-gai can apply to host a beehive - both homeowners and renters are eligible. For renters we only ask that you seek the permission of your landlord beforehand. You do not need to live in a house - residents that live in apartments can also host a hive as long as the space available suits the bees’ requirements.

What do the bees need?

The most important requirement for hosting a beehive is a suitable location. As a general rule, the bees like to have sunshine in the morning (no later than 11:00 am) and shade in the afternoon. A hive can cope with more sun in the winter months and less sun in the summer months. Please consider whether you have a space that fits these criteria before applying. If you are unsure, you can reach out to Council via wildthings@krg.nsw.gov.au and we can help.

Applying for a hive

The link to our online application is here (add link). The applications open on the first Monday in June each year for a 6-week period. The application form is a short series of questions designed to gauge a resident’s interest, willingness to look after a colony, and some basic knowledge of how to maintain a hive (we’re not looking for experts - simply some indication that you’ve thought about it).

Once the applications close, they will be assessed by our Environmental Programs Officer. Successful applicants will receive their hives during the latter half of August.

Applications are anonymous, with only the suburb visible. The suburb is necessary to ensure that we do not cluster all of our hives in a single area.

If there are more suitable applications than hives available then applications will be chosen through a random draw process.

Tetragonula carbonaria is one of the 11 stingless bee species found in Australia and the only one found in the Sydney region. They are a highly eusocial species with colonies comprised of a single egg-laying queen and her sterile daughters, which function as workers. They are quite closely related to the honeybee (Apis mellifera: Apidae) and like honeybees produce wax from glands on their abdomens. Unlike honeybees, they mix this wax with varying amounts of tree resin to form the structures of their hives. Naturally they nest in hollows in trees and branches, rock crevices and sometimes human structures as well.

However, these bees are just one of the approximately 200 other species of bees in the Sydney region, many of which will be common visitors to your garden. Our native bees are important pollinators and unlike the western honeybee, which is technically an alien species, they belong here in Australia and work far more harmoniously with the Australian environment. They are a critical group of pollinators and many of our Australian plants rely on them for this service. Not only that, pound for pound the native bees can be far better pollinators than honeybees with many species possessing special techniques, such as the buzz-pollinating carpenter bees.

The importance of bees generally is now well known, but it is our native bee species that are the unsung heroes and deserve more of our attention.

How can I purchase a hive?

Please email us at wildthings@krg.nsw.gov.au to join the waiting list. You will be notified when beehives become available for sale, at which point hives can be reserved for as long as stock lasts. We do not post our hives and those who purchase a hive will need to collect it from Council. Please note, sales and pick-up need to be pre-arranged.

The collection period for hives typically occurs in the April following a propagation season.

Cost

Our hives (including bees) are $550. We offer a discounted price of $420 per hive for schools and childcare centres.

Discounts of $50 per hive are available when purchasing 10 or more colonies (a maximum of 20 hives can be ordered in a single season). Bulk purchasers are advised to contact Council well in advance of the propagation season if they wish to ensure stock availability.

Payment of hives needs to be completed prior to collection. We do not except pre-payment on hives before the propagation season, as it is not possible to predict the exact numbers of hives that will be available.

Hives are covered under warranty for their first winter. This usually equates to the first September after collection from Council (approximately 6 months). This excludes damage/death to hive caused by negligence, not following care instructions, or splitting the hive (which is not advised within the first two years). Hives are typically between 6-8 months of age at collection.

We do not currently sell hive components e.g. empty boxes. However, if you have purchased a hive in the past and wish to split your colony, we now have detailed schematics of our boxes for you to download and follow in your own time.

Hive assembly instructions (PDF, 929KB)

Native stingless bee box schematics (PDF, 461KB)

Retrofit hive assembly instructions (PDF, 890KB)

Native stingless bee retrofit box schematics (PDF, 313KB)

Native stingless beehives are currently out of stock. Council will have more stock available in late-spring/early-summer ready for collection in the following April. For those interested in purchasing a hive please email the Environmental Programs team to have your details placed on a waiting list.

More information on commercial sales and splitting services can be found at Aussie Bee.