Honey Bee on Pea flower, Muogamarra Nature Reserve, NSW

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The humble honey bee all abuzz

Started to notice your garden getting a little more colour lately? Then there’s a good chance you’ll spot one of these honey bees buzzing about as well. Such is the daily grind of the important pollinator. While feasting on the splendours of spring can naturally lead to both honey and various beeswax products, more importantly they carry pollen between plants – in turn acting as a fertiliser and helping them to reproduce.

Originally brought in from Europe, the honey bee’s services are so important to our local agriculture that it is believed to be worth several billion dollars a year. Popular fruits such as apples and peaches, for example, are more attractive and have a greater shelf life after a bit of bee-based TLC. But with both honey bees and many native bees in danger from pollution, disease and pesticides, now is as important a time as ever to remember how valuable these little guys really are.