Construction Crew in action

By: Michael Fox

Providing Water, Food and Shelter are the key to bringing Birds, Butterflies and Bees back to our urban habitats.

The Construction Team gathered at Downfall Creek Environment Centre to build new homes for our homeless city bees.

Clearing all the bush and covering the ground with houses, roads and even lawns means that solitary native bees have a shortage of housing in our cities. Australia has over 2,000 species of solitary bees. Some, like female Leaf-cutter and Resin Bees are boarders that look for hollows where they can make a nest to fill with pollen and nectar before laying their eggs. Teddy Bear and Blue Banded Bees are burrowers that nested in ground now covered by roads. Borers, like Green Carpenter and Great Carpenter Bees, chew into soft timber to make a nest.

The Bee Home kits were made from reused hardwood ply donated by Benchmark Scaffolding at Yatala. Construction skills required included pre-drilling nail holes in the hardwood, nailing the kits together and painting with eco-friendly Lanotec made with lanolin. 

A proud team of constructors with their new Bee Homes ready for installation.