Bees in Tasmania: Keeping, Natives and What to Plant

Which bees live here, whether you can keep them, and how the season works in your part of Australia.

Hives beside Tasmanian leatherwood forest

Stingless bees: not here. Winters are too cold for Tetragonula colonies. Your native bee action is solitary species, which need no hive at all, just flowers and nesting habitat (see below).

The bees you will see in Tasmania

Tap any bee for identification details. Images are AI-generated illustrations.

Keeping bees here

Tasmania is the home of leatherwood honey and the only place in Australia with established bumblebees (introduced Bombus terrestris, since the 1990s), so if you saw a big furry bee here, it really might be a bumblebee. Winters are long: strong autumn colonies with heavy stores are everything. BeeTAS registration is compulsory and free, and Bass Strait biosecurity keeps mainland pests out, never bring bees or used equipment across.

Registration: required in Tasmania before your first honey bee hive. Details, costs and links on the state registration guide. Stingless bees never require registration.

Swarm season

October to December, the latest in Australia. If a swarm lands in your garden, here is what to do.

The flying year

December to February, with the leatherwood flow in the west from January. The shortest season in the country, and the most distinctive honey.

Plant for your bees

Bees need flowers in every season, and your vegetable garden can supply most of them. Borage, lavender, rosemary, alyssum and sunflowers carry the gaps between crop flowering. The Tasmania grow guide shows exactly what to plant this month, and the free app turns it into a plan.

Keep records the easy way. The Planting Season beekeeping app logs inspections, varroa washes and harvests per hive, with reminders tuned to Tasmania. Free to start.

More bee regions

South East Queensland North Queensland Northern Rivers NSW Sydney & Coastal NSW Melbourne & Victoria Adelaide & SA Perth & WA Canberra & ACT Tasmania Darwin & Top End

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Images on this page are AI-generated illustrations.