Australia has over 1,700 species of native bees. Only 11 of these species are stingless! These are the native honey-producing bees (Tetragonula - previously called Trigona -- and Austroplebeia). All of the other species of native bees in Australia can sting.
There are also 14 species of 'social' native bees that form large colonies in similar ways to European honeybees and produce honey—including the famous bush tucker, 'sugarbag'. These are known as 'stingless' bees because, unlike the honeybee, they don't have a stinger.
Blue Banded Bees are not at all aggressive but they can give a mild sting if you grab them or step on them. Adult Blue Banded Bees usually fly only in warm months of the year (October till April) and all the adults die as the cold weather begins.
Meliponines are not the only type of bee incapable of stinging: all male bees and many female bees of several other families, such as Andrenidae, also cannot sting. Some stingless bees have powerful mandibles and can inflict painful bites.
Australian native bees don't store nectar and therefore they generally don't produce honey, at least not in ample amounts. But European honey bees were introduced into Australia about 200 years ago for that exact reason – to produce honey.
Australia's native stingless bees also produce a unique type of tangy honey called 'sugarbag'. Each hive can only produce up to one kilogram of honey per year, so they will never rival the far more productive A. mellifera honey bees for general honey production.
Native bees are very reluctant to sting (even if their nest is disturbed), and their stings are reported to be less painful than a honeybee's.
The American bumblebee is the largest and gentlest of bees—and a pollination champ! We answer some common questions about bumblebees—and find out which flowers can attract (and help) our fuzzy friends.
Africanized “Killer” Bees
This bee species, which resembles its European honeybee cousin, has a much more aggressive nature. Although their venom is no stronger than that of the regular honeybee, the danger comes from the fact that “killer” bees attack in much larger numbers, usually the entire colony.
From the data, the bee sting that hurt most came from a tropical species of carpenter bee (the giant Borneo carpenter bee). But how painful was it, exactly? Schmidt ranked the sting pain across all the insects he studied from 1 (least painful) to 4 (most painful).
David Britton, at the Australian Museum, says:
With the exception of the highly social and stingless native bees in the genera Trigona and Austroplebeia, all other native bees have functional stings.
The Teddy bear bee is a plump, furry creature that plays an important role in pollinating Australia's flowering plants. Like most bees, they have a painful sting that can be treated with a cold compress and hydrocortisone cream.
All stinging insects, including yellow jackets, belong to the class of insects called Hymenoptera. They inject venom into your skin through a stinger. The venom is what creates a reaction. Yellow jackets are responsible for most stings in the U.S. They are the most aggressive of the stinging insects.
The Australian endemic bee, Pharohylaeus lactiferus (Colletidae: Hylaeinae) is a rare species that requires conservation assessment.
Solitary bees are non-aggressive.
Because solitary bees do not have a store of honey to protect they are non-aggressive, meaning they are safe around pets and children. The males generally have no sting and the females will only sting if handled roughly or trod on.
Bees may have brains the size of poppy seeds, but they're able to pick out individual features on human faces and recognize them during repeat interactions.
Carpenter bees often choose yucca flower stalks for depositing eggs and enough nectar to feed subsequent larvae. As visitors quietly stroll through The Arid Garden, they may be suddenly alarmed by an ear-splitting buzz.
Do Honey Bees Like to Be Stroked? Honey bees are social creatures like bumblebees and can become accustomed to humans as well. Rather than stroking a honeybee, it would be safer for you and the bee if you hold it in your palm instead. You may find a bee resting on a flower which would make it easy to pick them up.
Using a smoker to calm bees
If your bees are acting aggressively, it can be an incredibly effective way to calm them down and reduce the risk of stings while you work. Even if your bees are not particularly aggressive, a smoker can help keep things settled.
The lucky queen is treated like royalty every day. These worker bees clean her, feed her and even remove her waste for her. This is so all she has to worry about is mating and laying eggs. The older worker bees returning to the hive leave these packets of nectar for the house-bound worker bees.
The 15-24 mm Great Carpenter Bees are the largest bees in Australia! They cut nest burrows in soft timber such as dead limbs of a mango tree.
“Just as a rattlesnake will vibrate its tail as a warning, the first honeybees out of a hive will bump the person invading, saying 'Leave! '.”
Australia has eleven species of social native bees (genera Tetragonula - previously called Trigona* -- and Austroplebeia). These bees are mostly black and they are only 3 to 4 mm long. They have a queen plus hundreds of sterile female workers and some males in each nest.