Jeff has been tending native beehives for many years. His interest started when reading a book by Nola Turner-Jensen to his children . An adventure story of two young brothers, Jimmy and Max, who are on their way to visit their grandfather. On the way, they encounter a tiny native bee and hope it will lead them to some delicious sugarbag. ‘Sugarbag is a favourite treat for Aboriginal people. We call it ‘ngarruu’. When Grandfather was a little boy, he went hunting for ngarruu with his father,’ Jimmy explained proudly. Sugarbag is the European word for the honey produced by the stingless Australian native (Tetragonal Carbonaria) bee. The boys go racing through the bush in pursuit of the bee hoping it will lead them to its hive.
Jeff went on to research Australian Native Bees and found bees in trees around the Shoalhaven. When trees are felled or trees fall down there is a good chance to find a colony of native bee hive inside. Jeff can sometimes rescue these colonies and either keeps them in a portion of the tree or moves them to one of his specially made hives.
If you come across a native bee colony that is in a felled tree or otherwisein danger of being lost please don’t hesitate to call Jeff and he will come to the rescue.
Shoalhaven Native Bees 