Meet the locals
It’s perhaps a little known fact there are 28 native bee species in New Zealand. These bees (mainly from three genera – Leioproctus, Lasioglossum and Hylaeus) don’t have hives or produce honey; instead, they live in nests in the ground and are quite solitary. They’re non-aggressive and rarely sting. Arlette says many people mistake them for wasps because they’re so tiny.
“Most people are primarily aware of honey bees and bumble bees. We see them all the time and they look like how we imagine a bee should look, whereas New Zealand native bees are a lot smaller, and more complicated to spot. They’re not bright yellow, they’re tiny and black.”
She points out we have this connection between bees and hives in our heads. “We don’t have lots of narratives and children’s books about New Zealand native bees. It’s a bee that looks different to what we’ve been taught by European storytelling and common knowledge.”
Our native bees are under threat, and yet they’re essential for biodiversity in Aotearoa. “They’re so important for pollinating our native plant species and also lots of introduced crops,” says Arlette.
“Generally, what is damaging to our native bees is the same thing for honey bees, bumble bees and all the other pollinators, and that’s pesticides and intensive agriculture.”
She says there is also a level of competition between native and introduced species of bees for the pollination of some plant species. New Zealand native bees have adapted to some introduced species but not all of them, whereas honey bees are more adaptable.
Planting more native trees and plants benefits the native bees, but they need diversity as well. “Bees are just like people
– they don’t want to eat exactly the same thing all the time.”