New bee hive coming to Chippo

Katie Oxenham, Manager Urban Ecology at the City of Sydney, has contacted us to say Chippo’s new bee hive will be coming around September. Shortly we’ll choose a location for it. The new hive will bring to two the number of hives here.  These native, stingless bees will fly up to a kilometre and are better at pollinating than the larger, introduced stinging bees mainly due to the smaller bodies they have which allow them to get into a wider range of flowers... Read More

Smaller Aussie bees pollinate more than introduced bees

A friend, Maryanne, has let me know that Aussie native bees are more effective at pollinating than the feral introduced bees used mostly for the commercial honey market, and says:   ‘www.aussiebee.com… The main thing they mention is the smaller size (Presumably can get inside smaller spaces). Some native species , though not the one you have, can also do a different type of pollination called buzz pollination in which they release pollen by effectively shaking... Read More

Bees and food security

If you’re interested in bees and food security check this out:  www.thefifthestate.com… Solutions are here:  theplan.sustainablehouse.com…  Read More

Over 100 signatures and 19 cities have signed up . . .

? @sustaintheplan Luke has tweeted that over 100 people from over 19 cities around Earth have signed the petition to make the Plan for a sustainable suburb. That’s in the  first week before we’ve widely publicised the petition and the new web site. Great to know, for example, that people in Copenhagen love the Plan and want it made – it applies to any city on Earth – if we can get it made here in Sydney anyone anywhere may use that example to more easily... Read More

The Sustainable Communities Plan is on the web

Sydney City Council asked me to make a plan to make the whole suburb of Chippendale sustainable. It’s not just a plan for this suburb; it can be used to make any suburb sustainable – it’s free and you’re welcome to put it to work where you are. Now the Plan can be read on mobiles, kindles and is very easy to search, use and tweet.  Get it here: theplan.sustainablehouse.com… Enjoy. You can see some of the folks who support the Plan. Please sign the... Read More

The bees knees – do they have them?

Perhaps the main reason I keep providing tours of the house is the information, energy, questions and pleasure I obtain from meeting those who visit.  Here’s a follow up question I’ve received from last Saturday’s tour: Hi Michael, Thank you for your tour yesterday. We got a lot out of it and have already recommended it to friends who will hopefully attend your next tour on the 26th May. We live in a unit complex in Maroubra so urban farming prospects are limited,... Read More

Bee collapse research

A new study from Harvard University has identified how pesticides kill bees. The summary of the research reads: Imidacloprid, one of the most widely used neonicotinoid pesticides, has been named as the likely culprit in the sharp worldwide decline in honey bee colonies since 2006. Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health say their new research provides “convincing evidence” of the link between imidacloprid and colony collapse disorder. “It apparently... Read More

Some native stingless bee tips

Here are some tips for those wishing to keep native stingless bees.  Most of what follows is directly from an email sent to me by a proud new native bee owner, Lynda and I’m grateful for Lynda agreeing to publish this information. What to wear when splitting the hive: Don’t wear dark colours as they tend to attract an agressive response from the bees when splitting. Native stingless bees are NOT the commercial, introduced ones which do sting: Australia has over... Read More

Death by coconut

It’s dangerous out there. Particularly in the US. Twenty people there were killed by coconuts last year.  Read the figures below and shake. Death by Coconut (US Deaths per year) Causes Deaths Percentage Smoking 467,000 63% Obesity 216,000 29% Motor Vehicle 43,354 6% Falls 13,322 2% Drowning 3,842 0.5% Snakes 100 0.013% Other Stinging Bee Deaths 50 0.007% Skate boarding 42 0.006% Falling Coconuts! 20 0.003% *Africanized Honeybees 0.7 0.0001% *of... Read More

Terrific photos of the house

Lottie’s put some terrific photos of the house, chooks, bees and things up on her blog, here: aplaceaday.blogspot.com… Thanks, Lottie, may the photos be with you, Michael  Read More