Native Bee Hotel Workshop

Did you know we have over 2,000 different native bees in Australia?! It's very likely that you have many species you didn't know about living in and around your suburb! Native bees are critical for the health of our local ecosystems and need our protection. One of the best ways to do this is to learn about these beautiful creatures so that you can understand what they need to survive and thrive! Come along to Happy Patch Community Garden and participate in a hands-on workshop where you can learn how to build a bee hotel that our native bees will actually use! The workshop will be run by Beck Stevens, an agricultural and horticultural scientist who works as as entomologist researching insects and their role in our food production systems. As part of her work, Beck has conducted research on bee hotels across the wider Adelaide area. Her work investigated bee hotel occupants, food preferences of native bees, and the factors that make a bee hotel successful. In this workshop you will learn about the different species that are likely to use bee hotels in your area, the type of materials to include and how to prepare them, where to position it for maximum appeal, 'do's' and 'don'ts' when building a bee hotel, and of course, the food plants you can provide that will help them thrive! The workshop will be followed with an opportunity to chat with Beck and other attendees while sharing in a catered morning tea.