Nashua Native Bees

Nashua Native Bees This page will keep you updated on NNBees research into the Australian Native Bee (Tetragonula carbonaria).

At NNBees we were only too happy to populate quality hive boxes from customers. The price was $100.00 for a strong nucle...
26/11/2025

At NNBees we were only too happy to populate quality hive boxes from customers. The price was $100.00 for a strong nucleus of bees. Generally took around 5 weeks for the process. Using Two Domain Propagation (TDP) made is very easy and allowed us to select our queens from hives older than 20 years The quality hive box we populated in the photo was built by Doug Irvine. The stainless-steel mesh tube was coated with propolis - its importance was to support the brood discs in the horizontal plane. This lifts the hive performance by a factor of 2 to 3 in the 50-day brood cycle.

Nashua Native Bees has developed “Structured Natural Hive Duplication” (SNHD), which is being adopted by stingless beeke...
06/05/2025

Nashua Native Bees has developed “Structured Natural Hive Duplication” (SNHD), which is being adopted by stingless beekeepers in our area for the propagation of their hives. This method uses a two-domain approach to hive propagation and emulates the method the bees use in nature when creating a new nest. SNHD is less destructive and aggressive on the bees than the single domain hive splitting and eduction methods. The outcome is a far superior performing hive when referenced to single domain propagated hives.
The photo is our latest Next Generation 5 (NG-5) hive which has recently been fitted with a honey super. A number of our NG-5 hives have been purchased by the NSW Department of Education for Agri studies in northern rivers high schools.
Still cleaning up from cyclone Alfred.

06/05/2025

Nashua Native Bees has developed “Structured Natural Hive Duplication” (SNHD), which is being adopted by stingless beekeepers in our area for the propagation of their hives. This method uses a two-domain approach to hive propagation and emulates the method the bees use in nature when creating a new nest. SNHD is less destructive and aggressive on the bees than the single domain hive splitting and eduction methods. The outcome is a far superior performing hive when referenced to single domain propagated hives.
The photo is our latest Next Generation 5 (NG-5) hive which has recently been fitted with a honey super. A number of our NG-5 hives have been purchased by the NSW Department of Education for Agri studies in northern rivers high schools.

30/04/2025

What does healthy soil have to do with bees?

"Healthy soil means more diverse plants, which provide the nectar and pollen that bees need to thrive. It means reducing or eliminating pesticides, protecting pollinators from harmful chemicals. It means a thriving ecosystem, where insects, microbes, and plants work together to create balance.
When we rebuild soil health, we’re not just restoring the land—we’re bringing back the biodiversity that bees and other pollinators depend on."
Dr Jonathan Lundgren, Founder & Director of Ecdysis Foundation USA

If you reside in the Northern Rivers region of NSW and have a keen interest in caring for Native Stingless Bees, you mig...
25/01/2025

If you reside in the Northern Rivers region of NSW and have a keen interest in caring for Native Stingless Bees, you might want to consider enrolling in a specialized workshop offered at the Byron Community College in Mullumbimby.
Traditional methods for bee propagation, including splitting and education, are increasingly affected by climate change, with limited potential for significant enhancements to their effectiveness.
Noticeable changes in flowering patterns have been observed, especially in Europe, North America, and now Australia.
For several years, NNBees has developed and utilized Structured Natural Hive Duplication (SNHD) to propagate their hives, a technique that closely resembles the natural processes employed by the bees. This process is proving to be an extremely successful propagation method under difficult conditions.
https://byroncollege.wpenginepowered.com/course-details/...

19/01/2025

During the past twelve months I have been contacted by several northern rivers stingless bee owners in relation to the failure of their hives. On investigation it was clear that hive failure was due to the lack of forage for the bees.
Not splitting your hive may improve its chances of survival – at least for now.
Our observations are that our flowering systems are failing us.
While the current view of climate change relates to higher temperatures and rainfall, we are now identifying changes in our flowering systems as have already been identified in Europe and North America.
Finding a long-term solution to the problem may be difficult as carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere continues to rise.
I will be presenting a workshop on stingless bees in February 2025 for the Byron Community College at Mullumbimby. There are only a few spaces remaining.

We have phased out hive splitting as a method of hive propagation over four years ago after significant research highlig...
10/10/2024

We have phased out hive splitting as a method of hive propagation over four years ago after significant research highlighted that splitable hives are low performers, more susceptible to pests and not a good investment for our customers.
Adopting a systems analysis approach, I designed our hives to assist the bees and phase out an outdated propagation design.
The photo is a recently opened hive, after 12-years, shows a layer of brood which is part of the vertical spiral of species carbonaria. As a supported brood, mainly in the horizontal plane, the brood cells are reduced in diameter on the outside but remain the same on the inside. This means significantly more worker bees can be produced per volume of brood space.
The size and strength of a hive is determined by the number of female worker bees. This is linked to the size of the brood and a cycle rate of around 50 days. Also, our design allows for ease of adjustment of population, by the bees, to meet environmental conditions.
The big advantage of our hives is improved pollination, increased pot honey production and pest protection.

In Memory of the storm in late September 2024. Wet, Windy and Wild.
02/10/2024

In Memory of the storm in late September 2024. Wet, Windy and Wild.

17/09/2024

At NNBees we build our NG-4 honey hives in steps. Initially the new hives are derived from micro-colonies selected from our best breeding stock. Previous photo (NG-3) shows one of NNBees eduction trays with donor and host hives connected. Once we have a circulating brood in the bottom box of the splitable brood box we then add the top box, and the brood grows upwards into the allocated brood space. We can then observe the bee's storing food into the allocated storage space (see video). The Western Red Cedar disk tops of the allocated brood space. We get a higher packing density of the food stores as the connective are smaller and thinner allowing more food to be stored. Also, higher density stores improve insulation around the brood.

It is that time of year again where I begin configuring our hives to meet orders in November/December. We ceased splitti...
11/09/2024

It is that time of year again where I begin configuring our hives to meet orders in November/December. We ceased splitting as a propagation method over four years ago. For a number of years, we developed Structured Natural Hive Duplication or Structured NHD. You could mistake it for eduction when seeing the configuration; however, the process is structured with the bees meeting specific goals on the journey before the hives are separated. We produce these hives for sale in batches of up to 25 hives to meet our orders. All the new hives are derived from micro-colonies selected from our best breeding stock. The attached photo shows one of NNBees eduction trays with donor and host hives connected. Benchmarking shows we can achieve a significant productivity benefit over unstructured hives. Hive losses to pests is less the 1%.

We sell our hives in the spring - (November/December 2024). NNBees NG-3 Honey Hive NHD (Non-splitable) with a strong nuc...
01/08/2024

We sell our hives in the spring - (November/December 2024).

NNBees NG-3 Honey Hive NHD (Non-splitable) with a strong nucleus of bees $???.00
NNBees NG-4 Honey Hive NHD with a strong nucleus of bees $???.00

We phased out hive splitting as a method of propagation four years ago and build our hives using “Structured Natural Hive Duplication” or “Structured NHD”. This allows us to select carbonaria queens/brood from our best hives. From this we create a micro-colony, the beginning of a new hive.

Our hives offer excellent protection against pests and benchmarking confirms they are a top performing hive for pollination and pot honey production. The NSW Department of Education has purchased our NG series hives for Byron, Tweed and Lismore High Schools as part of their Agriculture/Science program. Also, Mullumbimby High School.

There is a shift by our customers towards our NG-3 Honey Hives with customers returning to purchase further boxes to increase their numbers. In the future, as a further service, we are planning to mail out selected quality brood to our customers to produce their queens and initiate the micro-colony. Unlike splitting, which is destructive, watching the hive grow gives a sense of achievement.

Our hive boxes are also suitable for propagation by the “Eduction” method which is becoming the preferred method to the dated splitting method by many beekeepers.

NNBees hives are constructed from Western Red Cedar, Paulownia and Silky Oak for durability in the field and insulation of the hive. This timber is more expensive than pine and other materials used.

A “Getting Started” booklet comes with your hive.

I also provide ongoing support to our customers.

Understanding the business processes within the hive of species carbonaria has been interesting and I learn a little eve...
18/10/2023

Understanding the business processes within the hive of species carbonaria has been interesting and I learn a little every year. In our NG hives our "Brood Space" design allows the bees to more effectively manage the hive's bee population based on environmental conditions. The bees increase the "Brood Volume" and their numbers in times of plenty to collect and store forage and reduce the "Brood Volume" and their numbers when little forage is available. Smart little bees. This approach may assist in increasing the survivability of our hive as our climate changes.

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Nashua, NSW
2479

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Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

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