Learn · About Bees
Learn about bees
Everything we know about bees, gathered in one place — from Australia’s 1,600 wild native species to the honeybees we rescue, from turning your garden into a haven to keeping a hive of your own. Some of it is a five-minute read for the curious; some is hard-won craft for the beekeeper. Start wherever you like.
Native bees & how to help
Australia has more than 1,600 species of native bee — most of them solitary, wild, and easy to help once you know they’re there. This is the heart of our conservation work.
- Australian native bees — the guide to our 1,600 wild species
- The blue-banded bee — Australia’s shimmering buzz-pollinator
- How to make a bee-friendly garden — the best plants for bees
- Bees for kids — fun facts for curious young minds
Understanding bees
How bees live, why they do the strange and wonderful things they do.
- Why do bees swarm? — the biology behind a swarm, and what to do if you find one
Keeping bees
For those who want to go further — the craft of keeping bees, and the health of the hive. Much of this carries forward the work of Dietmar Klimkeit, the beekeeper who mentored our founder.
- About beekeeping — what it actually involves, and how to begin
- Beehive inspection — how to read a hive, from stores to brood to disease
- Feeding bees — when and how to feed sugar syrup, and when not to
- Wax moth — spotting it, and keeping it out of comb without chemicals
- Varroa surveillance — monitoring and managing the mite that changed Australian beekeeping
Ready to learn hands-on? We offer beekeeping mentoring by arrangement, for serious learners.
Honey & the hive
What makes honey what it is — and how to know what’s really in your jar.
- Australian nectar sources — the eucalypts our honey comes from
- Our raw honey standard — how we keep bees, hive to jar
- Unfiltered honey — what it means, and why it matters
- What is creamed honey?
- Can you eat honeycomb?
- Cooking with honey — a foolproof honey soy marinade, glazes, dressings and baking
- Beeswax — what it is, how we render it, and what to use it for
- Honey water — what it really does, and how to make it at its best
- Bee pollen — what it is, and how to eat it
- Can dogs eat honey?
BeesFriend is an ethical, no-kill bee rescue in South East Melbourne. Everything here is written to be shared freely — here’s why we do it.