On Bundjalung land a rare species of honeybee naturally lives amongst the banksias and costal heath. A marvel to witness the true nature of this insect, a super organism, thriving, naturalised, at one with its environment.
Research from the Apicultural Division, Agricultural University, Warsaw, Poland in 2003 shows that Open-air-nesting honey bees Apis dorsata and Apis laboriosa differ from the cavity-nesting Apis mellifera and Apis cerana in brood hygiene behaviour
"Honey bees have for long been known to maintain clean and hygienic conditions in their colonies. This important social behaviour encompasses all aspects of detection, uncapping, and removal of dead, diseased and infested larvae and pupae from the combs. This display of hygiene behaviour including its characteristic features was first reported in Apis mellifera (Rothenbuhler, 1964; Spivak and Gilliam, 1998; Woodrow, 1941) and subsequently in the Asian hive bee, Apis cerana (Peng et al., 1987) and the giant wild bee, Apis dorsata (Woyke, 1984, Woyke, 1996).
Although both the hive (cavity-) nesting and the open-air-nesting bees display hygiene behaviour, it differs significantly from species to species with respect to both quality and quantity. It seems that brood hygiene behaviour of the open-air-nesting bees A. dorsata and Apis laboriosa differs from that of the cavity-nesting A. mellifera and A. cerana."