Love Food? Love Bees! Small and vital, bees work together for the good of the whole ecosystem. Let’s join them. Bee Friendly Australia!

ACT for Bees has changed our name to ACT for Bees and other Pollinators….We’re about more than bees: we’re focused on flowers and plants, bees, butterflies, birds and ways to empower us all to support biodiversity and healthy ecosystems. Since 2014 we’ve been collaborating with the ACT Government,  local business and community groups and schools on ways to take action for biodiversity through planting for year round flowering for pollinators for food security and environmental health. Our ‘Bee Friendly Gardens’ PowerPoint presentation and fun and interactive activities for children have been widely used over the years. Please contact us if you would like us to present it to your business, community group or school. We love sharing about why pollinators are so important and ways we can all make a difference.

We wish to acknowledge and appreciate the support of the Canberra Environment Centre over the years and in particular their willingness to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding with ACT for Bees. We have collaborated on creating  ‘Bee and Pollinator Friendly Gardens’ workshops for many years, built bee hotels and planted for pollinators in the Canberra Environment Centre’s grounds. We very much appreciate this ongoing collaboration and being able to hold our monthly meetings at such a central site. We’ve a number of exciting workshops planned for the next 6 months.

We also wish to acknowledge and appreciate the support of the Rotary Club of Hall over many years. We were vey grateful for their recent grant for new collateral for public events including 3 new pull up banners, a backdrop for our marquee and new tablecloths and printing costs.

We have also had an ongoing and positive collaboration with Landcare ACT through running workshops and events together and appreciate their focus on planting for pollinators and local species in their choice of plants.

 

We created the highly successful ‘Love Food? Love Bees!’ free online curriculum with Cool Australia for Early Learning, year 5/6 and Year 9/10 to raise awareness of the importance of bees for our world. We recently added native bees to the curriculum which has received very positive reviews.

 

Together we can create a Bee and Pollinator Friendly Australia! Come and Join Us!

We are working towards ‘Bee and Pollinator Friendly Canberra’

A Bee-Friendly ACT focusses on improving the policies and practices of institutions and organisations in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT).

Provide ideal pollinator-friendly habitat, including:

  • Diverse and abundant nectar and pollen from plants blooming in succession throughout the year
  • Water for drinking, nest-building, cooling and butterfly puddling
  • Undisturbed spaces (leaf and brush piles, un mown paddocks or paddock margins, nature strips, fallen trees and other dead wood) for nesting and wintering for wild pollinators
  • Is free or nearly free of pesticide use (-in farming, gardening, agriculture, seed and plant propagation, park and open space landscape maintenance etc)- see pest management below.
  • Is comprised of mostly native flowering plants, grasses, vines, shrubs, and trees in landscapes because many wild pollinators prefer or depend on the native plants with which they co-adapted
  • Connectivity between habitat areas to support pollinator movement and resilience
  • Where possible, designated pollinator zones in public spaces with signage to educate the public and build awareness; and
  • Safe and humane removal of honey bees when required.
  • Use integrated pesticide management practices- see more detail below

PEST MANAGEMENT

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is a long-term approach to maintaining healthy landscapes and facilities that minimise risks to people and the environment by:

  • Identifying and removing the causes of pest problems rather than only attacking the symptoms (the pests).
  • Encouraging beneficial insect predators to help control pests naturally. Employing pest’ natural enemies along with cultural, mechanical and physical controls when prevention is not enough.
  • Not using biocides that are harmful to bees, e.g. Neonicotinoids and only using them when no other method is feasible or effective.

Please contact us if your business, school or community group would like to join us! We will be creating a map of Bee Friendly sites. 

ACT For Bees Success With ACT Government

Exciting news! The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Government has adopted ACT for Bees additions in their review of the ACT Government MIS25 Urban Landscape Planting List.

Developers and government bodies can only use plants on this list. The list now includes our data on flowering times, nectar, pollen, seed resources, the species of forager (whether it be bees, butterflies, birds) and habitat for native mammals. It guides choosing plants for flowering throughout the year, which species are the best for long periods of flowering and also indicates medium or high nectar and pollen production.

The review focussed on selecting species which are suited for an increasingly hot climate and also includes Ngunnawal cultural notes.

The Urban Planting Calendar for the ACT has been produced by ACT for Bees and the ACT Government to enable the implementation of strategic planting to support bees and other beneficial insects and birds with a diverse range of foraging opportunities across the city and wider landscape. Download it for free from the ACT Government ‘s website Urban Planting Calendar 

Hall Village, the first ‘Bee Friendly Village’ in Australia has created a ‘Bee Friendly Community’ Charter

We, the community of Hall village and district, are committed to embracing bee friendly practices for the benefit of biodiversity , public health, water and soil health.

We will establish and maintain plantings of pollinator safe habitat in public spaces and in our gardens. Would your community like to use this as a basis for a ‘Bee Friendly Community’ in your region? Read more about the  Hall Village Community Charter

ACT for Bees submissions to the ACT Government towards ‘Bee Friendly Canberra’

‘Nature in Our City’ Opening statement  to the committee.

ACT for Bees Nature in Our City 29.6.2018 docx The recent reports of a worldwide decline in insect populations has implications for food security, not only for humans but also for the food web which sustains biodiversity. Globally 90% of wild flowering plants depend on pollination and these plants are crucial for the continuing functioning of ecosystems to provide food and habitats for a wide range of species.

Feedback from Nature in Our City February 2020 9th-ETCS-10-Inquiry-into-Nature-in-Our-City

ACT for Bees Submission- DV369 Living Infrastructure April 2020

ACT for Bees Submission on Draft review of import conditions for Brassicas April 2018

The Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) is undertaking a review of pesticides called neonicotinoids 2019-2021. ACT for Bees will be working on a submission. Join us?  More information here.

Bee Curriculums for classrooms:

We have partnered with  ‘Cool Australia- Learn for Life‘ to create an exciting ‘Love Food? Love Bees!‘ curriculums for Early Childhood, years 5/6 and High School as well.  They can be downloaded from the Cool Australia website and taken straight into the classroom & also practically outside in the garden! We love the way Cool Australia curriculums are easy to use, focussed on sustainability and empower students to take action for the good of the world. Check out these curriculum materials through our website.

March 2022. We’ve just received a report from Cool Australia about the reach of  the ‘Love Food? Love Bees!’ education material since August 2016, >500,000 students have participated in this program Australia wide!
We’ve just added a unit on Australian native bees to the Year 5/6 curriculum which has already had very positive reviews from teachers.Well worth using in spring when the native bees emerge again.
Check the FREE resources out and find out why they are one of Cool Australia’s top performing resources. 

 

 

World Bee Day celebrations- Friday May 20th with most events on Saturday May 21st 2022- Go to World Bee Day Australia website to find out events near you! 

ACT for Bees was involved in BIG celebrations of pollinators at Parliament House and at the Swedish Embassy in 2018 & 2019. The Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia in Canberra, The Embassy of Sweden, The Embassy of Switzerland, and other Nordic Embassies including Denmark, Finland, Norway,  and Estonia, Parliament House, Canberra Region Beekeepers, Capital Region Farmers Market, Hall Rotary, Australian National Botanic Gardens and Bush Blitz, Wheen Bee Foundation, Australian Honey Bee Industry Association, Rotary for Bees, Pure Pod, CSIRO, IKEA and Bunnings.

 

Our ‘ACT for Bees’ group visits markets, Festivals & Sustainability Conferences with activities for children ‘Be a Bee andPollinate the apple trees!’ teaching about the importancof bees for pollination of our food and ways to be ‘Bee Friendly’.

KEEP THE GLOBAL HIVE ALIVE: BEE FRIENDLY AUSTRALIA

A Community Arts Project is showing how vital bees are for the pollination of a whopping 2/3 of our food production. Fruit and nuts including apples, almonds, avocados, cherries, kiwifruit, apricots, peanuts, blueberries, plums, mangos, oranges, peaches, pears, watermelon and honeydew melons. Vegetables and seeds including beans, broccoli, carrots, cucumbers, cauliflower, celery, onions, pumpkins, squash and sunflowers. Livestock feed including clover and lucerne all depend on honeybees for pollination. More photos on our  Art for Bees page.

What is your favourite food on the Global Hive?