Could this native pollinator be an alternative solution to the under-threat European honey bee?

Scientists are backing native stingless bees as an effective alternative to European honey bees for pollination of some crops amid varroa mite outbreaks.  

The European honey bee has been in Australia for about 200 years and, as the main pollinator of crops, is responsible for about a third of the volume of food we eat in Australia.

Since varroa mite was discovered at the Port of Newcastle in June last year, more than 25,000 hives have been euthanised in New South Wales, affecting beekeepers and also the fruit and vegetable growers who rely on bees for pollination.

With the incursion putting an increased focus on the need for alternative insect pollinators in Australia, researchers from Western Sydney University and Griffith University have been looking into stingless bees. 

Like their introduced counterpart, these native bees also produce honey, live in large colonies and can pollinate crops. 

Western Sydney University Entomology professor James Cook, who is heading the trial into stingless bees’ crop pollination abilities, said the advantage of the species compared to other bee and fly species was that they could be kept in hives. 

“A lot of people think they’re just a small fly,” Professor Cook said.

“They do have defence mechanisms to keep pests out of their hives, and they will, under some circumstances, bite, but the ones in Australia are not really very aggressive.”

The trials build on two decades worth of research, which found stingless bees were good pollinators of several crops, including macadamias, berries, mangoes and avocados.

Professor Cook said stingless bees were usually less than a centimetre long — about a fifth of the size of a honey bee — and preferred tropical areas.

To try and replicate those tropical conditions, the trials are being conducted in a glasshouse at the National Vegetable Protected Cropping Centre at Richmond, about 60 kilometres from Sydney.

However, Professor Cook said stingless bees were not a perfect solution, as Australia only had a small number of commercial beekeepers who had them, and they didn’t breed as quickly as honey bees.

“So the new work we’re doing is to try to improve propagation methods so we can multiply the number of hives more quickly and improve our understanding of their diet to improve their overall health,” he said.

Pollinators vital to food security

Jean-Pierre Scheerlinck, the bid chief executive of the pollination security Cooperation Research Centre (CRC), said as Australia faced increasing threats from climate change, pests and diseases, it was crucial to research alternative pollinators. 

“The economic value of pollination is actually quite large,” he said. 

“In 2016, it was estimated to be worth about $14 billion to the Australian economy. Since that time, the agricultural sector has close to doubled.

“And it’s important because insect pollinators are responsible for two-thirds of the types of food that we eat and a third of the volume of food that we eat here in Australia.”

Pioneering pollination

Not-for-profit grower body Hort Innovation has invested about $61 million into bee-related research projects, including boosting alternative pollination methods and developing a varroa mite pesticide that is safe for bees. 

Chief executive Brett Fifield said pollination research was vital to safeguarding the future of Australian horticulture products.

“The incursion of varroa mite has placed us in a position where we have had to reassess how we think about pollination,” he said.

“Unlocking the potential of alternative pollinators, like the stingless bee, is going to be instrumental in providing the horticulture sector with new crop pollinating options.”

Trials are also underway in Coffs Harbour using native hoverflies to pollinate blueberries, and research has been done using Canadian leafcutter bees to improve lucerne seed pollination.