Coffs Harbour Native Bees
Native stingless bee hives and services on the Coffs Coast
Native stingless bee hives and services on the Coffs Coast
What we provide
We provide stingless bee hives and stingless beekeeping services and advice on the Coffs Coast. Whether you are a backyard gardener interested in native bees, a school or childcare centre, or a crop grower looking for managed pollinators, we have the bees and expertise for all. Coffs Harbour Native Bees is owned and managed to Dr Tobias (Toby) Smith, a stingless bee researcher and experienced beekeeper. We sell hives of stingless bees, for pick up or delivery and installation. We also service stingless bee hives, providing splitting and honey harvest services. To find out more, continue reading below or get in touch with us today.
We know bees
Coffs Harbour Native Bees is owned and operated by Dr Tobias (Toby) Smith. Toby is a native bee researcher and experienced commercial stingless bee keeper with over 15 years of stingless bee keeping experience. Toby grew up in Sawtell and after 20 years away has recently moved back to settle with his young family. Toby has kept stingless bee hives in the Coffs region in the gardens of family and friends for the last 10 years. The first stingless bee nest Toby ever saw, when he was five, was in a log on the forest floor at the Coffs Harbour botanic gardens. Toby studied ecology at university and later went on to do a PhD at the University of Queensland on tropical native bees. Toby continues to research native bees, and works part time lecturing in ecology at the University of Queensland. In 2013 Toby's stingless bee keeping hobby got out of hand and he decided to turn it into a business. We've been selling stingless bee hives and offering services and advice ever since. Today Toby's work time is divided among native bee keeping, teaching beekeeping to adults, university teaching, and stingless bee and research. Toby also runs a schools-specific native bee business, Bee Aware Kids.
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We grow bees
We sell hives - At Coffs Harbour Native Bees we keep, propagate and sell hives of native stingless bees. They really are stingless, and are a safe and easy compliment to any garden, farm or school. We sell hives of native stingless bees for $600. Our hives are made to the stingless bee industry standard honey OATH design, and are suitable for both future honey harvesting and hive split propagation. The hive boxes are professionally made, and the bee colonies inside are strong. In the unlikely event that the colony of bees you buy doesn't survive, we offer a 12 month guarantee. For more information about the hives that we sell, please contact us.
We service hives - In addition to selling native stingless bee hives, we also offer bee keeping services for those who already have native stingless bee hives. Toby will visit you and split or harvest honey from your existing hive/s with you, explaining the techniques and answering questions throughout. We can provide the empty box required for splitting if you do not have your own. We use industry standard OATH hive boxes (20cm by 28cm), professionally made. We sell boxes made to the standard 25mm thick hoop pine, as well as modified OATH hives made with 31mm thick hoop pine (external dimensions the same as a standard OATH). All our hives have top and bottom split bars, for helping to ensure clean splits in the future. Toby also offers stingless bee colony transfer services, where he can transfer a bee colony from a rotting log or other natural location where the bees are currently vulnerable (e.g. water metre or rotting hive box) for you, and will provide the empty box required if you do not have your own. Please note that Toby only offers transfer services for colonies that are vulnerable in their current location.
We are urban bee farmers - We grow our bees in urban gardens in the Coffs Harbour region, on the Gold Coast and in Newcastle. It might seem strange, but recent research has demonstrated that hives of native stingless bees actually perform much better in urban gardens than in the bush or on farms. Why? Because in urban environments there are generally more regular, and more diverse, sources of food for stingless bees. Bees need flowers, and in our gardens we humans have actually done quite a good job of planting lots of different types of plants, with prolific flowering in mind, and we also water our gardens even in times of drought. Some beekeepers like to say that it is spring all year round in the suburbs. While not all native bee species will visit the flowers of common garden plants, stingless bees are generalists and will eat the pollen and nectar from a wide range of plant species.
We service hives - In addition to selling native stingless bee hives, we also offer bee keeping services for those who already have native stingless bee hives. Toby will visit you and split or harvest honey from your existing hive/s with you, explaining the techniques and answering questions throughout. We can provide the empty box required for splitting if you do not have your own. We use industry standard OATH hive boxes (20cm by 28cm), professionally made. We sell boxes made to the standard 25mm thick hoop pine, as well as modified OATH hives made with 31mm thick hoop pine (external dimensions the same as a standard OATH). All our hives have top and bottom split bars, for helping to ensure clean splits in the future. Toby also offers stingless bee colony transfer services, where he can transfer a bee colony from a rotting log or other natural location where the bees are currently vulnerable (e.g. water metre or rotting hive box) for you, and will provide the empty box required if you do not have your own. Please note that Toby only offers transfer services for colonies that are vulnerable in their current location.
We are urban bee farmers - We grow our bees in urban gardens in the Coffs Harbour region, on the Gold Coast and in Newcastle. It might seem strange, but recent research has demonstrated that hives of native stingless bees actually perform much better in urban gardens than in the bush or on farms. Why? Because in urban environments there are generally more regular, and more diverse, sources of food for stingless bees. Bees need flowers, and in our gardens we humans have actually done quite a good job of planting lots of different types of plants, with prolific flowering in mind, and we also water our gardens even in times of drought. Some beekeepers like to say that it is spring all year round in the suburbs. While not all native bee species will visit the flowers of common garden plants, stingless bees are generalists and will eat the pollen and nectar from a wide range of plant species.
Buy native bee hives - Native bees on farms - Stingless bee management
New South Wales - Queensland
Coffs Harbour - Grafton - Tweed Heads - Byron Bay - Newcastle - Gold Coast
New South Wales - Queensland
Coffs Harbour - Grafton - Tweed Heads - Byron Bay - Newcastle - Gold Coast