bees, bees, wonderful bees

Last Tuesday morning, Poe, Ilo and I popped around the corner to watch a very special event in a friend's backyard. We were lucky enough to be part of their very first hive split, oh yes amazing. Our friends, Vera and Strider have had their Native Carbonaria stingless bees for about a year now and the time had come to split the hive into two, when splitting the hive you start a new colony and you also collect a jar of amazingly strong and citrusy honey. 

The folk from Sugarbag who set them up with the hive were passing through town and were more than happy to talk them through their first split, needless to say this attracted more than a few friends who were keen to watch as well. It was an utter delight, the fascination around seeing these gorgeous little bees going about their business and then marvelling at the incredibly beautiful and sculptural spiral hive (I just couldn't tear my eyes away from it) and then watching as the honey is collected. Yes, we are hooked, the perfect Christmas present for ourselves.

These bees are native to our area; from up around Brisbane to just south of Sydney, they are amazing at pollinating and loving up your garden, are a delight to have around and by keeping bees you are saving these bees, as unfortunately due to a number of reasons, our native bee population is declining.

As Poe is allergic to honeybees, these native stingless bees are perfect for us and we can't wait to welcome them to their new home. If you too live in Australia and are keen to get some native bees, check out http://www.sugarbag.net , as they are constantly up and down the coast giving workshops and spreading the love. 

And while we are talking bees and if you are interested and want to get even more passionate you should check out this doco; Queen of the Sun, so wonderful and inspiring. 

One last thing, as I stood watching the kids and adults smile and marvel at this simply delightful natural wonder my heart felt so full and warm, I exhaled and shrugged off some of the nitty gritty that was getting me down and I embraced this, this is what makes life so special, wonderfully positive times with friends, connection with nature and a look at the big picture. What a treat. Oh and to top it off, I got to melt a little as a good friend made some teeny tiny felt bunting for her new native bee hive, sigh, ah.....craft, nature, smiles, sun and friends. Pretty damn wonderful.