Sugarbags daylily

Our daylilies are flowering profusely and are a magnet for "Sugarbag" or "Sweat bees" Trigona sp, the most well known Australian stingless bee. Stingless bees are highly social with one queen and thousands of workers with a hive that is generally located in a hollow tree. They are found throughout northern  Australia and down the east coast to south of Sydney. The Australian species are generally black in colour and are much smaller than European honey bees. As their name suggests, they do not have a sting but can give you a small bite with their jaws. Although there are hundreds of species of Australian native bees, the stingless bees are the only ones that make and store quantities of honey and it was a major bust tucker food for Aborigines. A dedicated band of apiarists are gradually building popularity in keeping native bee hives and relish the very special honey that is only produced in very small quantities, about 1kg per hive.