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Cumberland – the bee’s knees in biodiversity

Cumberland Council has won a Keep Australia Beautiful NSW award for its ‘Keepin-A-Hive’ program, which encourages residents to host a native beehive in their backyard and plant native flowering plants for bees to forage on.
21 Oct 2019 - Environment & Waste
Native stingless bee

Media Release - Monday, 21 October 2019

 

Cumberland Council has won a Keep Australia Beautiful NSW award for its ‘Keepin-A-Hive’ program, which encourages residents to host a native beehive in their backyard and plant native flowering plants for bees to forage on.

The Habitat and Wildlife Conservation Award is for a project or program ‘that create, restore and sustain biodiversity of our native flora and fauna in urban environments, creating wildlife corridors and encouraging habitat conservations.’

In its first year, the program created a new hive network across the region, with 41 new hives installed at private homes, businesses and community gardens.

“Thanks to Keepin-A-Hive, our native bee population is growing exponentially and cost effectively, each year,” said Mayor Steve Christou.

“With a native bee able to fly up to 500 metres in a day and the hive able to host more than 5,000 bees, we literally have hundreds of thousands of native stingless bees promoting biodiversity within Cumberland.

“The program assists with pollinating local plants and ensures the gardens and parks look their best, while plants and vegetables grow strong and healthy,” Mayor Christou said.
The Council initiative relies on the expertise of beekeepers at Sydney Stingless Bees, the craftsmanship of participants at Auburn Men’s Shed and the support of a network of residents and local community gardens.

Residents are taught how to care for the hives and learn more about native bees and the important role they play in our environment. After 12 to 18 months, the hive matures and is ready to be ‘split’, with half of the bee colony given to another resident on a waiting list.

“Council is working towards a clean and green Cumberland, so to get this level of recognition from Keep Australia Beautiful NSW, is extremely rewarding,” said Mayor Christou.

“It’s a small but innovative response to the pressures confronting biodiversity today and it’s a program that is enlisting the help of nature’s biodiversity experts – native bees. With its modest start-up cost and shrinking year on year costs, it shows that effective environmental measures do not have to be expensive.”